Psynergy Between the Three Houses
by ModernHog
Summary: A month after the events of The Lost Age, Isaac and his party are forced into the world of Fodlan. Now separated from his friends, Isaac has to find a way back to Weyard. The appearance of the Adepts soon draws the attention of Fodlan's residents...whether the Adepts want them or not.
1. More Worlds Than One

A man with watery-blue hair stood in the middle of an incredibly vacant mountainous region. He forced his hand out, summoning a heavy rain of deadly bubbles that stuck the land with an immense force. But he was not satisfied.

"_This is rather boring,_" the water user thought to himself. "_All of that power I attained those two weeks ago really couldn't have amounted to...this. It's pitiful. Absolutely pitiful. I should have a lot more than this._"

The man continued to throw his bubbles around, as ineffective to achieving his goals as they were. Sometimes he even summoned blades of razor-sharp ice. That also did nothing. It seemed that with every passing usage of his power, his frustration steadily grew.

"_How can this be...how can this be?! All the lighthouses were lit and the Golden Sun formed at the top of Mt. Aleph...I was there. I should have the Golden Sun inside me. I should BE the Golden Sun. But I'm not…_"

A sudden fit of rage. With a powerful frown, he forced his palm forward once again, only to be met with an unusual happening. Instead of anything water-related, an ominous dark-purple spherical vortex of sorts emerged at the ground in front of him. It was moderately sized, going up to most peoples' waist levels. And it had the girth of a small boulder. The man found himself intrigued.

"_Oh…? This is certainly interesting…_"

* * *

One month. A whole, single month of peace has blanketed the land of Weyard. The world is no longer in danger of ending thanks to the valiant efforts of the eight heroes. However, their actions came at the cost of Vale - the hometown of some of those heroes. It, essentially, blew up completely. What was left of it was nothing other than a deep crater.

Luckily, nobody died. All the residents of Vale evacuated through the help of a certain deity. They were forced to move to Vault, a nearby town. There had been enough buildings to house the admittedly somewhat small numbers of residents that once belonged to the now-decimated village. And it only got a little bit crowded.

So life almost returned to normal for Vale's residents. They smoothly transitioned back into their old routines and everything was a-okay. Three out of the eight heroes - the ones that used to live in Vale - also permanently moved into Vault.

Isaac, Garet and Jenna were having dinner with Dora (Isaac's mother), Ivan and Mia (two more of the eight heroes). The remainder of the octology were all elsewhere in the world, much to Jenna's personal lament. But her spirits were greatly improved as she kept feasting on the fine food laid out for her and her other friends.

"Is it good, you five?" Dora asked everyone else in the room with a warm, motherly smile.

"Yes, miss Dora. It's very lovely," Ivan responded with a nod, between bites of course. "I'm enjoying the chicken especially."

"I agree. The chicken is marvellous," Mia agreed, adding in a nod of her own.

"The chicken?! Are you guys crazy? The steak is the best!" Garet exclaimed.

Jenna sighed. "Normally, I'd tell you to shut up or be quiet, but I actually agree with you on that, Garet. The steak is amazing!"

Isaac simply nodded, not really having anything to add to the conversation.

"I'm glad you're all enjoying it. And I'm even more glad that Ivan and Mia came all the way here just for this meal," Dora smiled further.

"Well, it's not just for the food. I wanted to see everyone again," Ivan claimed. "It's really a shame that Felix, Sheba and Piers couldn't make it. There's nothing that can be done about that, though."

"Yeah," Isaac finally piped up. "Felix and Sheba are off...somewhere. Who knows where Piers went on that boat of his."

"At least they left with a goodbye. That was pretty nice of them," Garet said through munches.

"Indeed…" Mia sighed.

With that, the conversation died down somewhat. Sometimes Garet would break the silence by yelling in pain as a result of biting his tongue, though that was the only time human speech emanated through the room past the earlier conversation. Everyone was content with consuming Dora's delicious delicacies.

Only then did something happen to disturb the peace. Isaac, Garet, Ivan, Mia and Jenna all felt something...off. Something just happened, or appeared, that felt really...off. They couldn't describe it any other way. Right after they felt whatever it was, a villager knocked on the door. Dora answered it.

"Dora! Some weird thing has appeared outside the village! We need the Adepts to check it out!" the villager reported in a very stressed tone and appearance.

Isaac and his friends looked at each other, then nodded. They immediately figured this 'weird thing' was somehow connected to that offness they felt earlier. As they were Adepts - users of powerful elemental magic known as Psynergy - they were the only ones around suitable enough to tackle this mystery.

"Jenna, you stay behind. This might be some kind of diversion," Isaac instructed his friend.

"What? Why?" Jenna simply asked. "You know I can handle myself."

"That's exactly the point. Garet, Mia, Ivan and I will head out there to check out this thing while you stay behind to make sure the villagers are okay. That is, if this is some kind of attack…" Isaac explained his reasoning.

Jenna, who resorted to frowning, sighed in defeat. "Alright, fine. You four go out there and save us all, or something. Go on, then!"

She didn't need to say that. Isaac's party already had the encouragement they needed to ensure the safety of their people. They followed the villager who reported the so-called 'weird, dark, purpley sphere thing' over to the object in question. Once the four Adepts got closer, they could tell that this strange object was the cause of the shared off-putting feeling they all had earlier.

"What is it? Some kind of Psynergy Stone?" Garet suggested, pacing around the object.

"No. Psynergy Stones are smaller and lighter in colour. They also feel much more pleasant, while this...this feels the exact opposite. This thing feels like the paragon of evil," Ivan described, keeping his distance.

"I'm...I'm terrified," Mia disclosed, shaking in fear slightly. "I...I really don't like this. It's almost like it wants to consume my Psynergy…"

"Consume your Psynergy? It really must be like a vortex," Isaac commented, standing resolute on the outside. "Wait, is it...expanding?"

Just as Isaac said, the small vortex of darkness was steadily growing in size. The Adepts found themselves frozen in place. Not out of fear, but the vortex was somehow forcing them to stay. Almost as if it was inviting them in.

That's exactly what it was doing. At one point, the vortex suddenly expanded massively, engulfing the Adepts and some of the surrounding area. Each of them were immediately knocked unconscious due to the influx of such offbeat energy entering their systems.

And then they were gone. The Adepts, the vortex, the strange Psynergy...it was all gone. Everything else was normal. Jenna and Dora were both horrified to learn that Isaac, Garet, Ivan and Mia had disappeared completely. Jenna couldn't even sense them anymore.

It was as if they vanished from Weyard completely.

* * *

**_Author Notes: _****Hey all, Hog here! I'm starting a brand new fanfic today, one that has no relevance to anything I've done before! It's a crossover between Fire Emblem Three Houses - a game I utterly adore - and Golden Sun, a game I also utterly adore. I just had the idea to combine these two things randomly one day, then as I began to think of it further, I got so many cool ideas that I knew I had to make a fanfic on it. So here it is!**

**Hope you all enjoyed it. Drop me a follow and favourite, drop this story a follow and favourite, then have a nice day (you're only allowed to have a nice day if you do what I tell you /s). I'll see you next time, which should be...**


	2. The Extinguished Flame of Darkness

**_Author Notes_****: ...right now!**

* * *

Within a realm whose name lies unknown, there exists a land entitled 'Fodlan'. A curious continent, divided into three major segments, each housing a powerful nation. In between those three is a large sacred building known as the Garreg Mach Monastery. While the infamous Knights of Seiros reside there, it is also a school for young nobility and commoners, these folk comprising the Officers Academy along with their professors.

One such professor is a man of many mysteries. Byleth - otherwise known as the Ashen Demon - was seated inside the monastery's dining hall, consuming some fine food. He feasted upon his Berry Sauce covered Pheasant Roast with internal fervour. His unchanging facial expression remained the same despite the wonderful delicacy he was devouring.

Most people around Byleth were with someone else. Although it seemed as if he was alone, he wasn't. A petite, rich green-haired girl who strangely lived inside Byleth's mind: Sothis. She was there, albeit silent for now. Nobody could see her, however. Nobody aside from Byleth. Even still, she'd chosen not to appear in the ex-mercenary's vision, as she had been doing some thinking.

"_Hmm...this truly is bothersome,_" Sothis complained within the confounds of her companion's consciousness.

"_What's the matter?_" Byleth asked internally. He kept eating as to not arouse suspicion.

"_I am trying to discern what may be the cause of that peculiar feeling I felt the other day. I first felt it two weeks ago, now I have been feeling it once again. Despite my efforts, I have not been able to find the answer,_" the girl responded in a slightly worrisome tone.

"_Are you certain this isn't some kind of paranoia?_" the professor quizzed.

"_I am positive_. _Although I cannot tell who or what caused this, I am certain that something is wrong with the world at large. I hope it is nothing too drastic._"

"_I hope so as well. For all of our sakes._"

The conversation lulled to a silence. Byleth returned his whole attention towards eating his meal, carefully ensuring to not look like a complete dunce while doing so, especially in front of the copious amounts of nobility in the room. Though he was certain that messing up once wouldn't be too much of an issue - he was always careful to avoid it anyway.

Somewhence into the silence, a pair of figures approached Byleth, holding dinner plates of their own. It was Edelgard von Hresvelg (an important figure to the Adrestian Empire, one of Fodlan's three major nations) as well as Hubert von Vestra (Edelgard's infamously loyal retainer). Two bright members of the very class that Byleth teaches: the Black Eagles.

"Professor. I can't help but notice that you're eating alone," Edelgard began, holding a plate of Sweet Bun Trio. "I cannot allow this to continue. Allow us to eat with you."

"Okay. Take a seat," Byleth permitted this. Edelgard and Hubert sat opposite to their teacher. "How has your studying been faring?"

"It has been going very well. Thank you for asking, Professor. I have already completed your assignment," Edelgard replied with a smile. "As has Hubert."

"Indeed. I ensured that I completed it for myself first so that I may properly assist Lady Edelgard with her own work. If I must comment further, then I shall say that we both have finished it to a very high standard. Lady Edelgard's work is perfect," Hubert added.

"I'm not sure I would say it's perfect…" Edelgard modestly responded. "But it is rather well done, I believe. I'm certain you will enjoy what I wrote, Professor."

"I look forward to it," Byleth commented, returning to his food.

Silence once more. Edelgard started her Sweet Bun Trio, as did Hubert with his Two-Fish Saute. Both of them greatly enjoyed their respective meals. Only after a few minutes did this silence break. The deed was done by the hands of Edelgard, who reacted as if she'd suddenly remembered something she wanted to say.

"Professor, I've been meaning to ask you about our mission for this month. Since those rampaging villagers have all been put to rest somehow, what will we be doing in its stead? Surely it's impossible for us to not have a mission," she questioned.

"I see…" Byleth thought for a moment, trying to recall something. "Rhea has told me that Remire Village has been set alight. This happened soon after those strange villagers were subdued. A detachment from the Knights of Seiros were dispatched to deal with this, though we haven't heard back from them yet. It's possible that our mission will change to helping the villagers with the fire or something similar. As of now, I can't tell."

"A fire? How odd…" Edelgard frowned in worry. "This only confirms that someone is doing...something with that village. Perhaps it's an experiment of some kind."

"I agree. Something larger must be at play here. Whatever it is...we may have to deal with it," Byleth nodded in general agreement. "_Sothis...do you think it's possible that your worries have some connection with the events transpiring at Remire Village?_"

Sothis yawned. "_It is possible. I cannot tell for certain. But I cannot deny how suspicious this seems…_"

"_Suspicious?_" Byleth wondered.

"_I am merely noting the coincidence. The fire at Remire Village and the feelings I am having...the fact that these are occurring at the same time is certainly dubious. And I cannot help but feel this is not the way events are supposed to happen…_" Sothis explained.

"_We'll find out what it all means eventually. Don't worry about it too much_," reassured Byleth.

"_Hmph. I do not need such reassurance. However, I appreciate it nonetheless. Thank you_," Sothis thanked, the faintest smile creeping onto her face.

Byleth, in the space that occupied his mind, nodded. The action didn't translate to the physical world, much to his already established relief. He continued to eat his meal alongside Edelgard and Hubert. Soon enough, he was finished with meal time. Byleth then left to spend the rest of his Sunday elsewhere.

* * *

Elsewhere in the monastery, a certain regal-looking man entered a very holy room; the room that the leader of the Knights of Seiros and the Archbishop of the entire monastery, Lady Rhea, usually resides in. Seteth, the regal man and Rhea's loyal servant, approached the Archbishop with fear and perturbation clear on his face.

Something was very wrong.

"Is there a problem, Seteth? You seem as if a terrible occurrence has taken place before you," Rhea commented, immediately seeing her servant's expression.

"While that is not entirely the case, I have recently come into hearing of grave news," Seteth started to explain. "The knights that you sent to deal with Remire Village's fire...they have all been vanquished by an unknown force. And the fire still rages on."

"What? How could they have been killed…? You say that every single one of them died? Not a single survivor?" Rhea asked for the sake of confirmation.

Seteth nodded. "Yes, Lady Rhea. There were no survivors. There was also no indication as to what killed them. It's almost like they were attacked by an invisible assailant."

"This is most troublesome. We are cornered...we cannot send out more soldiers, as they would most likely meet the same fate as the first detachment. But we need to send more out to investigate these odd happenings…"

"We are indeed in a pressing situation. If need be, I will investigate it myself."

Rhea shook her head. "No. I would not want you to risk your life in that manner. There is no other choice...we must send out Professor Byleth and the students of the Black Eagles."

"But, Lady Rhea…" Seteth had his doubts.

"I understand your concern. Worry not, for Byleth and his students have proven themselves to be powerful warriors. They may even possess more skill than the Knights of Seiros. I trust them to be able to solve our situation."

"If that is what you command, Lady Rhea...I will have Byleth summoned immediately."

* * *

**_Author Notes: _****And so ends Chapter 2, basically the Three Houses introduction chapter. Stuff's gonna get very interesting from here on out...**


	3. Unfamiliar Venus

Flames, destruction, the screams...all of it flooded Isaac's ears one day. He stepped outside of the abode he'd been residing in, only to find that the entirety of the village he was living in temporarily had been covered in fire. Isaac found himself drenched in worry.

It'd only been almost two weeks since he arrived in this strange new world...Fodlan, as the people called it. He appeared next to some tree formations that were beside a place which held the name Remire Village. A kind, elderly couple stumbled across his unconscious form and took him in. Since then, he'd been spending all his time in Remire Village, helping the old couple with various chores they needed done. It was in this time frame where the Venus Adept learnt the truth.

He was no longer in Weyard. He was in Fodlan now. And his friends were nowhere in sight. That idea made him upset for some time, though the elderly partners made sure his depression didn't last very long. Isaac had been meaning to leave the village to search for his friends but then some villagers started rampaging for no reason...he helped imprison them before anything could go wrong. He also didn't want to abandon the two that took him in when he needed it.

Now, Isaac saw that it was all for nothing. The village was bequeathed in flames. He'd been asleep when it occurred, so there was nothing he could've done to stop it at an early stage. Isaac began to dart around the place to try and find some way he could help. The boy helped some folks escape from whatever they were trapped behind or under while also ushering them out of the burning village. He was keen to ensure everyone's survival.

However, there were some people he couldn't save. He lacked any means to combat the flames themselves, so he was forced to watch as people became engulfed in the deadly heat. He didn't watch for long. Isaac stared up into the sky, wishing it would rain.

"_I don't have any Water Psynergy...that's Mia's forté,_" the seventeen year old lamented to himself. "_Where are they...where are my friends…?_"

Isaac turned around, initially to find someone else to help, but was met by a strangely edged blade pointed his way. Its owner was a man whose dark teal hair reflected his calm nature as an individual. Byleth, on the other hand, was certain he'd found the one responsible for Remire Village's ordeal.

"You. Identify yourself," the professor demanded, ready to cut down this stranger with a single slash of his Sword of the Creator. He was confident in his victory. Not only because he possessed a Hero's Relic but because most of the Black Eagles were right behind him.

"?" Isaac was confused. "Who are you? Why aren't you all running away?"

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" Byleth wondered, glaring at the Adept. "We won't be intimidated by your words. Come with us quietly and you won't be harmed."

"Professor...are you sure this person is the one we're looking for?" Edelgard asked doubtfully. "It is odd that he is simply standing around, though I'm not positive I can imagine him being the cause of all this."

"It must be him...the fact he's not fleeing the village like the others suggests something sinister. And I'm getting a certain feeling from him…" Byleth explained his reasoning.

"_He must be the perpetrator. His peculiar aura reminds me of those feelings I have been having...he has to be connected to them somehow!_" Sothis claimed from the safety of the professor's mind. "_Either vanquish or capture him. Do whatever you must to keep his power at bay._"

"_His power…?_" Byleth wondered, soon snapping back to reality. "I must repeat. Come with us without a fight and we will not harm you."

"I'm sorry...I can't. Now that this place is gone, I need to find my friends. Please get out of my way," Isaac refused.

Most of the Black Eagles students either audibly gasped or had their mouths agape. Byleth frowned upon hearing the Adept's words. He tightened the grip on his relic.

"Okay, this guy's just gotta be the one we're looking for. There's no way he's acting so suspicious while being innocent!" Caspar exclaimed, readying his gauntlets.

"I do not have great understanding of math, but it is seeming there is one of him. There is many of us. How is he having confidence?" Petra wondered aloud.

"He must think very highly of himself. After all, he was the one to set this village alight. He also killed those soldiers from the Knights of Seiros. We cannot underestimate someone who wields that kind of power," Ferdinand suggested, preparing his lance.

"Regardless, we have the advantage. There's...nine, no, seven of us and only one of him. The odds are heavily stacked in our favour," Linhardt commented. "I should be fine to step aside for a short while…"

"Linhardt, if your renowned slacking results in the death of Lady Edelgard, I will personally enact her revenge," Hubert threatened his classmate. "There will be no slacking."

"Do not fret, Hubert. My plan will assure our victory…" Byleth reassured his students.

Isaac could barely hear what they were saying. There was some talk of numbers...he did note that disadvantage. If push came to shove, he'd have to use his Psynergy...maybe even his Djinn or his Summons.

"_Good thing I still have those…_" Isaac sighed in relief. For a moment, he felt something was off. Two...yes, two souls were standing some ways away on his two sides. Judging from that 'Linhardt' fellow's comment, Isaac quickly began to piece together what was about to happen.

An arrow as well as a fireball quickly emerged from the two alleyways. Having expected something of that caliber, Isaac made use of one of his ever helpful Djinn creatures - Granite - to allow him to tank both blows, halving the amount of damage taken from them. He then used a stream of yellow Psynergy - Cure - to heal all of that damage back up.

To all but one of the Black Eagles, it seemed as if the sneak attack failed, much to everyone's surprise. The one(s) who saw the Djinn and Psynergy usage...

"_What? How is this possible…? Did he sense Bernadetta and Dorothea's presences? And what was that power?_" Byleth thought, utterly bewildered.

"_That is…_" Sothis seemed to recognise it. "_I do not know what that was, although it feels rather familiar to me, somehow. That power must be the thing that connects this boy to my extraordinary feelings. Deal with him at once!_"

Byleth nodded, to nobody in particular. He dashed in, preparing a normal slash with the Sword of the Creator. Isaac parried the blow and countered with one of his own, using the Gaia Blade. The two sword users clashed with their respective weapons for some time. Everyone else simply watched as the pair of powerful blades ignited the air with fantastic-looking sparks.

At one point, Byleth leapt back and unleashed a whip attack with his Sword of the Creator. Isaac was surprised by this. He ended up getting hit several times by it, though he started to evade those elongated swings. Soon he even jumped back himself. In retaliation, Isaac casted Spire, which caused a pointy rock to barely strike the professor. Again, Byleth was shocked. As was Isaac.

"_He reacted to my Spire...is he also an Adept? But that doesn't make any sense…_" Isaac theorised. "Hey, uh, you there with the whip sword. Are you an Adept?"

"_Adept...that word strikes a chord of familiarity with me_," Sothis stated. Byleth made a mental note of that, causing Sothis to sigh as she really didn't need to hear that again.

"What is an Adept?" Byleth asked Isaac. "Has that something to do with your magic?"

"Magic? I guess that's what normal people might see it as…" Isaac remarked. "You're right, in a sense...just who are you, exactly? If you're an Adept, I really don't want to fight you."

"I'm unsure what an Adept is, but if you are refusing to fight, then we will have to take you with us. First, I must ask you...did you do this to Remire Village?" Byleth quizzed his potential enemy.

"No. This happened while I was resting," Isaac truthfully responded.

Byleth nodded. "I see. Then I apologise for attacking you. My name is Byleth. I am a professor at the Officers Academy of the Garreg Mach Monastery. These are my students. Together, we form the Black Eagle House. What is your name?"

"Isaac," the literal person in question replied. "I've heard of the monastery...it's the school that's in the middle of Fodlan, right?"

"That is correct. Are you a resident of this village? Could you tell me what has been happening here in recent times?" Byleth further asked.

"I can't tell you anything about the fire. Do you mean with those rampaging villagers? I helped the others put them into prison cells. Soon after we did that, they calmed down and returned to normal. Then only a few days later, this happens…" Isaac recounted, motioning to the burning buildings. "Can you do anything about this? I've done what I could."

"...Sorry. Not a single one of us can stop the flames. We will have to let them burn away the village. The Knights of Seiros can worry about rehousing the civilians," Byleth apologised. "We were sent here by the archbishop to investigate these strange happenings...do you know anything of the knights that were sent here?"

Isaac shook his head. "No. I haven't seen anyone like that around here."

"So that rules you out entirely…" Byleth considered, sheathing his weapon. He turned to face his students, who were quickly joined by Dorothea and Bernadetta once he remembered they were still in their sneak attack positions. "We're done here. We'll head back and report this to the Archbishop. The knights will take care of the rest."

"What about the villagers?" Dorothea asked. "We can't leave them here."

"We'll have to take them with us. Luckily, I packed extra food and water in case this were to happen," Byleth explained, satisfying his student and everyone else's woes. He then turned back to Isaac. "Would you like to come with us? I can't expect you'll gain anything by staying here."

Isaac thought for a moment.

"_He's right...I can't stay here any longer. Not in its current state...maybe, just maybe, if I go with these guys, I'll find my friends. They do seem like the kind of people that get around a lot...I just hope I don't get roped into something I don't wanna do_," he considered. "Alright, I'll join you."

Byleth smiled and nodded. Isaac joined their party...the Adept felt something was missing, but couldn't place his finger on it. Everyone began to turn around and head towards the village entrance, keen to return to Garreg Mach. Isaac was keen to see it, having been told about it by some of Remire's villagers. His interest only increased when the Black Eagles came along.

Something stopped them, however. In their tracks was an old, frail seeming man who the Black Eagles recognised.

"Tomas...what are you doing here?" Edelgard asked him. Isaac simply observed.

"Hmph. You fools have no idea what you are getting yourselves involved with. You are unaware of the power that lurks within that boy…" Tomas commented with a vile tone.

"What are you saying, Tomas?" Edelgard continued to ask. Isaac was only confused.

"And worst of all, you know not of who I truly am," Tomas frowned.

Out of nowhere, a massive cloud of darkness enveloped the old man. Dark purple and black smoke engulfed his very being. Byleth, Isaac and the Black Eagles shielded their faces from the immense force this transformation was outputting. When the smoke dissipated, a similarly looking old man with massive veins and an even larger forehead emerged. His presence radiated darkness. It was as if he lived in the blackness of the night.

"How foolish of you to be tricked by my disguise...I hid amongst the ranks of those who live at the monastery just so I could attain the blood of that girl named Flayn. With it, our plans can finally be realised!" the new man of darkness exclaimed.

"You must've been the one behind this village's destruction...who are you?" Edelgard demanded to know. Everyone was ready to attack.

"My name is Solon, the saviour of the world. That boy that's joined you...he ruined my experiment, though I still received the information I required. With the help of a new ally of mine, we burned this village to the ground to show them what it means to fail to meet my expectations," the new man, Solon, answered. "I have finished my business here. I must bid you farewell."

He disappeared in a flash of dark purple light. All he left behind was total perplexity. Regardless, Byleth, Isaac and the others moved on. With everything that happened rooted in their minds, the large group added the remains of Remire Village's residents to their gathering and began the long venture back to Garreg Mach Monastery.

The archbishop had to hear about this.

* * *

_**Author Notes: **_**Thus the crossover actually begins! Hope you all enjoyed this one, it was a very fun one to write. Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites, by the way. It really means a lot to me that this story is actually getting attention. I truly, truly appreciate it. Hopefully I'll see you all next time.**


	4. Activity Time for an Adept

"Everyone, we have a new student joining our ranks temporarily. Please welcome Isaac to our class."

All of Byleth's students proceeded to stand up (all except one, that one having to be woken up by another) and give Isaac a courteous bow. The Venus Adept felt nervous. It wasn't that long ago he'd been speaking to the archbishop - Lady Rhea - about his situation. She was quite a strange woman to be around; Isaac felt warm and at peace around her. But there was also a sense of mystery as well as familiarity with her. Thus, she was rather strange.

His unexplainable uneasiness had been quietened down somewhat thanks to Byleth, who'd offered to take Isaac in as one of his students for the time being. Seeing as the Adept had nowhere else to go and nothing else to do, he accepted. And after hearing of those missions the students have to do every month, he figured he'd be able to find his friends through them in some way. So it was a no-brainer truthfully.

Now, Isaac had to deal with several gazes that all contained a wide array of emotions. Each of them were staring right at his otherworldly visage. Some were inquisitive, one was curious, one didn't seem to care, another was doing its best to look the other way...Isaac could tell there were many personalities under Byleth's tutelage.

"Welcome to our class, Isaac," Edelgard, who Isaac learned was the leader of the Black Eagle House, welcomed. "Even if you are here only for a short amount of time, we will treat you as one of our own."

"Thank you, Edelgard," Isaac nodded in thanks.

"Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself? It will help us get to know you," the house leader suggested. Isaac considered this.

"I guess I could," he accepted. "Well, my name's Isaac, as you all already know. I'm a Venus Adept from the village of Vale, which WAS located in Weyard before it got...totally destroyed due to recent events. I now live in Vault. That's also in Weyard."

"You are having goodness...you are good with Venus? You are a gardener?" Petra, the foreign one, wondered.

It took a moment for Isaac to sift through her broken language. Then he quickly pondered the nature of the Fodlan language and how similar it seemed to his own.

"No. This will require a bit of an explanation," Isaac turned to Byleth for a moment. "Do we have time for that?"

"Make it as quick as you can," the professor allowed this.

"Right, thanks. In short, an Adept is someone who can use the power of Psynergy. Psynergy is a type of energy that comes in four elements: Venus, which is power over earth; Mars, power over fire; Mercury, power over water and Jupiter, power over wind. I'm a Venus Adept. That means I can control the ground to some extent," Isaac quickly explained to the class.

They all seemed either amazed, surprised, still asleep or mildly interested.

"I should probably mention I'm from another world. Or realm. Whatever you guys like to call it," he added.

"Is that so? I suppose it would make sense, considering the unfamiliar terms you are using," Ferdinand, the noble orange-haired one, broke the silence of the students. "Although it is rather extraordinary to hear. I am unsure if I can believe it."

"It's the truth," Isaac simply said. "That's all I can really say. Why would I lie about that?"

Some murmurs. He assumed they were mostly agreeing with what he was saying. It'd take time for them to adjust, he figured. A hand went up.

"Can you show us this Psynergy stuff? I wanna see it!" Caspar, the energetic turquoise haired one, requested. Some more murmurs of agreement. Isaac frowned a little.

"Sorry, I don't think I can. Psynergy can only be seen by other Adepts," he revealed, causing Caspar's excitement to dissipate. "_Even though Byleth saw my casts when we were fighting in Remire Village…_"

"Really? That's kinda disappointing. You sure you're not tricking us or anything?" Caspar continued to press the matter.

"No, I'm not," Isaac replied in a sharp, angered tone. "There's literally no way it could be fake. My whole world revolves around it. If it weren't for Psynergy, Weyard would be long gone. It took me about two massive adventures to realise that…"

"Oh, sorry…" Caspar apologised, genuinely feeling bad for his assumption.

"That's enough. Isaac, please sit on the front now, next to Ferdinand and Petra," Byleth spoke up. This garnered everyone's attention somehow.

Isaac nodded and did as he was told. He found his seat on the edge of the right side of the classroom's frontmost desk, sitting beside Petra, who in turn was sitting next to Ferdinand. Though none of this really mattered to Isaac as he'd have been fine with wherever. The excitement from Isaac's introduction wearing off somewhat, Byleth began the lesson.

"Today, our lesson will focus on the effectiveness and practical applications of magic. Those of you that are not magic users will still find plenty of use from this lecture as you will learn the importance of magic and precisely why it is widely used. You may even ascertain a method of countering spells in battle as you take notes," Byleth proceeded to instruct. Isaac raised his hand. "Yes, Isaac?"

"What is magic?" he asked. Everyone gave him looks, even the shy Bernadetta, who was far too preoccupied with sheer confusion to worry about being diminutive at this moment.

"It's...well, you see, it's a…" Dorothea, the songstress hat-wearing one, tried to explain. "I'm sorry, it feels very weird to have to explain something so basic. You really must be from another world if you don't know what magic is."

Isaac turned around to face Dorothea, her face reminding him of something. "Has it got something to do with that fireball you threw at me the other day?"

"Yes, exactly that. I used a magic spell known as Fire. Casting a spell requires a lot of mental energy and focus from the user. Trained mages are able to use a large number of them without tiring out," she was finally able to explain. "There are different kinds of magic, though. Fire is a type of Black Magic, which falls under the Reason magic category. There's also Dark Magic which is basically the same thing as Black Magic but with a darker tone. Hubie over there excels in Dark Magic."

Hubert grunted at the mention of his name.

"You said Black and Dark Magic come under the Reason magic category. Is there another category?" Isaac wondered.

"Yes. Faith magic. That one's all about healing and other kinds of non-violent spells. The sleepy guy and lovely Flayn are both practitioners of Faith magic," Dorothea continued to inform him.

Linhardt kept snoring while Flayn waved as her name was brought up.

"I get it...so Faith magic is like Mercury Psynergy, while Reason magic is like the other elements. Though it seems like there's no Faith spells that hurt people, whereas there are Mercury Psynergy spells that do that," Isaac nodded in understanding. He turned back to Byleth, who'd been staring right at him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to usurp your lesson."

"That is fine. Covering the basics is important," the professor replied.

Byleth's lecture on magic soon returned to normal. Most of it whizzed by Isaac, as he simply didn't understand a good majority of what was being taught. All these specialist terms, historical as well as geographical references, battle tactics...the resident of Weyard equated it all to equivalents from his world. Battle tactics confused him the most.

Over the entirety of his adventures, tactics weren't really a thing anyone had dealt with. He and his friends just kinda used their respective Psynergy against their foes until they won. Isaac wondered just how important these tactics were to the people of Fodlan.

Soon enough, the end was at hand.

"Dismissed," announced Byleth.

Upon hearing this, everyone began packing away their things and left the classroom, everyone eager to do so for different reasons. All those movements seemed to whiz right by Isaac. Eventually, it was only him and the professor in the room.

"What are you still doing here?" Byleth asked the Adept, who'd just been sitting there with a rather confused stare.

"Oh, uh, I'm not used to this yet…" Isaac answered nervously. "I've never been to a place like this before. I was taught all the essentials by my parents back home. I'll leave."

Just as Isaac was getting up, Byleth came at him with quite the odd question.

"Have you considered hosting a seminar on Psynergy?"

"Huh?" the seventeen year old returned the professor's gaze with a look of surprise. "I've never considered teaching my skills to someone else...anyway, Psynergy can't actually be taught to someone that isn't an Adept already. It's not something that can be handed down or anything like that. But if someone here is an Adept, I would be able to help them. Actually, now that we're on that topic, how was it that you were able to see my Psynergy back in Remire Village?"

Byleth paused to think. "I do not know."

"Oh…"

An awkward silence. Even Byleth was growing weary of the silence. That all changed when he happened upon another idea.

"Why don't you explore the monastery?"

Isaac considered this. "Explore? I guess I could. Who knows how long I'll be here for...I might as well get used to where I'll be living from now on. Good thing you had that spare room in the dorms. I'll see you later, Byleth."

The professor in question nodded. He watched as Isaac left the classroom, eagerness to do so not present in his movements, unlike the students earlier. Byleth wondered why exactly this was the case...he hoped a good walk would sort out the otherworldly visitor's woes.

* * *

Garreg Mach Monastery...it was certainly a wonderful place. Hard stone walls, impressively regal insides and plenty of facilities available for use. Immediately upon leaving the classroom, he noticed the two other identical looking classrooms next to the one he'd been in. This amused him slightly.

Unsure of where to go next, he followed a path into the Reception Hall, a place that didn't seem to have a specific purpose other than to serve as a social space of some kind. He continued to be led by the path, down the stairs and through the entrance doors. The marketplace was in front of him, but he was interested by the somewhat closeby cheers emanating from the right somewhere.

Over there was the Fishing Pond. A student was fishing - apparently he caught something impressive. Isaac walked past the celebrations and up the stairs behind the fishing stall. He entered into the Dining Hall. Self explanatory, that one. Past there, through some hedges, the Adept came to the dormitories. His room wasn't out here, though, as he knew. It was inside somewhere. The greenhouse was to his left, though he noticed several students heading into a gate towards his right. Inside there was the Training Grounds...also self explanatory.

Back out of there, walking on a path next to the classrooms and inside once again, he noticed a set of stairs that led to a second floor. This place seemed to be where all the admin stuff was. Lady Rhea's...room, the offices of the professors and other officials. The library and some sort of meeting room was past this point. Isaac made a note of the library's location as he figured he'd have to peruse the books for information on Fodlan at some point.

Down the stairs, he found a long path that led to the Cathedral. He instinctively looked for someone that could heal poison or revive a party member of his, but quickly realised that wasn't how it worked here in Fodlan. Disappointed, Isaac promptly left the Cathedral and took a path he hadn't been through yet. That one led to the graveyard, training room and finally, the stable. This was where his exploration time had been cut short.

"Hello!" Ferdinand greeted the Venus user. "I do not believe we have been properly introduced. My name is Ferdinand von Aegir, eldest son of Duke Aegir of the Adrestian Empire."

"Oh. My name's Isaac...son of Dora," Isaac introduced himself.

"Is that it? Do you not have a last name to speak of?" Ferdinand asked, quite puzzled.

"Nope," Isaac shook his head. "We don't have last names where I come from."

"Wow...I am in shock. To hear of a place that lacks such a commonplace thing...I don't know what to say," Ferdinand paused, as if to collect himself quickly. "Anyway, I was hoping you would join me for a meal. I am very interested to hear more about you and your world. We can share stories as we eat."

Well, Isaac was feeling rather hungry… "Alright, I accept. I'll admit, I'm curious to see what Fodlan food is like."

"I can assure you that you will not be disappointed, Isaac."

With a smile, Ferdinand led Isaac all the way over to the Dining Hall, which wasn't very far away from where they were at the stable. They both went over to the main counter where they then selected their dishes. Ferdinand suggested the Vegetable Stir-Fry, as it was one of his favourites and it's what he decided to get. Isaac took the suggestion.

Before long, the two dug straight into their meals.

"This is delicious! Truly, a food item designed for nobility," Ferdinand commented after the first bite. "What do you think, Isaac? Is it not amazing?"

"It's…" Isaac considered it as the chuck of vegetable fell down his throat. "It's pretty good. I can't say I'm wholly in love with it."

"Ah, to each their own. I will not judge your opinion, differing from my own as it is," Ferdinand nodded in acceptance of Isaac's stance on one of his favourite foods.

"Mind if I join in?" a feminine voice rang to the pair's ears.

Isaac and Ferdinand looked up, only to see that Dorothea had already parked herself next to Isaac while holding a plate of her own dinner. Ferdinand frowned slightly.

"And you choose not to sit next to me...am I truly that unbearable, Dorothea?" he asked her.

"Yes," she quickly answered with a smile. "I hope he hasn't been bothering you, Isaac. Ferdie can be rather...overbearing at times. Especially when it comes to nobility."

"I will have you know that being a noble-"

"It's all he talks about," Dorothea interjected Ferdie's statement. "For the most part, anyway."

"I see…" Isaac sighed.

So Dorothea joined their shared meal. Ferdinand continually tried to get on her good graces and even at one point wondered why she wanted to sit here of all places, but a certain knowing look from her caused him to remember something important. Isaac didn't catch any of that as he'd tuned out their playful bickering. Which was soon interrupted by another arrival.

"Hey! Mind if I, uh, _we_ sit?" Caspar asked. Linhardt didn't seem pleased.

"I could be using this time for a nap…" the latter male yawned rather audibly. Dorothea shot him that same look she gave Ferdie. "Oh, right...still, that won't change how I feel…"

Two more to (two?) the fold. Caspar sat next to Ferdinand, while Linhardt chose to sit and not fall asleep beside his small blue haired buddy. Eventually, the five were joined by yet another pair.

"Are we allowed to be having the sit down?" Petra wondered.

Bernadetta only made a small squeal. It seemed she was uncomfortable with Isaac's presence, as Dorothea assumed, but was conflicted with the presence of her other classmates. She later sat down with Petra, who chose to sit near Isaac, leaving a certain gap between her and the Adept.

"_Something's going on here…_" he realised. Matching his guess, another individual joined the party.

"Hello! I was hoping I could join in with the rest of you!" Flayn smiled.

And then another pair.

"I see you all are eating together. May we join in?" Edelgard requested. Hubert was with her, of course.

There was only one left…Byleth arrived with a plate of his own, taking the unoccupied seat that rested between Isaac and Petra. He didn't say a word until after sitting down.

"Thank you all for coming," the professor thanked his students.

"Okay, what is going on here?" Isaac just HAD to ask. "Things got suspicious right around when Caspar and Linhardt showed up."

"Is it not obvious? We are having a group meal to celebrate your arrival to the Black Eagle House," Edelgard disclosed the truth. "It was the Professor's idea. He wanted to do something special for you. We are aware that your friends are not with you and you likely miss your family as well, so we wished to make you feel as if you were at home. It wouldn't have been as special if you knew about it beforehand. I hope this is sufficient."

Isaac had no words. All he did was smile.

"Thank you…"

And so the Black Eagles ate together, now with the inclusion of their new friend Isaac.

* * *

**_Author Notes: _****Thanks for reading this fic so far, everyone! Really means a lot to me that people are actually reading and enjoying this story. I've fixed a few errors in the previous chapter (thanks to Golden Zero16 and kerrowe for pointing them out for me)**. **No need to go back and check them out, I'm just lettin' ya know.**

**Also I should probably clarify that the events of last chapter was a heavily modified version of Chapter 8 from Three Houses. That's roughly where in the Three Houses timeline we are.**

**Anyways, see ya next time for something a little bit different****...**


	5. Personable Petra - Omake 1

Some time after being properly initiated into the Black Eagles, Isaac started to feel more at ease. He was comfortable with his new position at Garreg Mach Monastery. Whereas the official students had to deal with assignments and the like, Isaac wasn't tasked with any of that, though he still attended lectures and read whatever he felt he needed to. The library was a very helpful resource in that regard - Linhardt helped him with that. Whenever he wasn't napping.

However, he did still feel a bit out of place. He'd been used to always being on an adventure with at least three other people by his side. Even though there were numerous students and others around the monastery who were mostly willing to help him with whatever he needed, it wasn't the same. It's like he was living normally in Vault while having the active mindset of being on an adventure. Isaac had been plagued by this bug for all of the week and a half he'd spent at Garreg Mach so far.

Social interactions fixed that. For the most part, anyway.

"Isaac!" Petra called out to him one day as he was strolling the monastery grounds. "Are you having a moment?"

"Oh, Petra?" the Adept turned around to address her. "I guess I'm free right now. What's the matter?"

"I am curiosity...I am very curious about you. There are many things I would be liking to know about your land of home."

"You want to ask me about Weyard? Sure, go ahead. I'm used to being asked about that at this point," Isaac accepted the girl's request.

"Thank you," Petra smiled. "In my land of home, Brigid, we are forcing to hunt so we can live. I was being taught these things as well. Is the same happen in...Weyard?"

"Sometimes. But it's not as important as it is in Brigid, I think. In my village, we have designated hunters that go out to get meat and stuff like that. Though due to something that happened long ago, some wild animals have become ferocious beasts. That's where me and my friends come in...we're the only ones strong enough to take care of them safely," Isaac explained.

"Oh my! Special animals are indeed sound of powerful...uh, sounding powerful. Is your village in the have of weapons?"

Isaac shook his head and smiled. "It's okay. Those kinds of beasts never attack our villages...for whatever reason. And in the adventures I've been in, my friends and I killed quite a lot of them, so there's only a small amount left. But anything could happen…"

"I am understanding...it is good your places of living are safe. Brigid is...almost the same. Sometimes a big animal will try to attack. But Brigid is having good hunters. Big animals never succeed."

"That's good," Isaac remarked. "_Considering what we did at Mars Lighthouse, more people in Weyard will start to become Adepts...we might have a Brigid situation eventually._"

Petra's mouth widened, as if she was been have an idea.

"There is something other I wanted to be asking of you, Isaac. Would you like to spar at, no, with me? I would be liking to see your skill in person."

"Sure. I promise I won't use my Psynergy. I won't even use my Gaia Blade."

Brigid's princess frowned. "That is...your sword? I am know that you are not allowed to use your own weapons insiding the training area...is your sword special? Like Professor Byleth's?"

"Sort of. You see, my Gaia Blade is unique in my world. It's a type of weapon that can sometimes fire what's known as a Howl, which is essentially a Psynergy spell used by the weapon itself," Isaac revealed (despite not having the Reveal Psynergy). "The Howl my Gaia Blade uses is exceptionally powerful. That makes it one of the strongest weapons in Weyard...maybe even Fodlan, now that I think of it."

"That is impressing. Your...Psynergy as well as your small creatures, your Summons and your sword...you really must be an impressing warrior," Petra complimented her new friend. "I am seeing why you were have confidence in Remire Village. You were having many things that you could use to defeat us."

"Well…" Isaac thought about it for a moment. "I think if you guys all ganged up on me, I'd have lost, probably. I'm not used to fighting like nine enemies at once. Five's the most I've had experience with. And those were just basic, mindless monsters. Not a massive group of people that all know battle tactics pretty well. Yeah, you guys had a good chance of beating me. I don't know why you let your professor do most of the work."

"We were having confidence that he could win. We were assuming you were a thief or a bandit. But I now see you are much more than that, Isaac," Petra defended. She smiled again. "You are a very nice person."

"Same with you, Petra. Now, about that training?"

Petra nodded. She led herself and Isaac over to the Training Grounds, where they clashed training blades, 'wasting' away many hours in doing so. It wasn't wasted in their eyes. Isaac and Petra became one step closer to each other in their friendship..

Llll

* * *

_**Author Notes: **_**Here's the thing that's different! Y'know, the thing I talked about at the end of the last chapter...that thing. Yeah. This is what I call an 'Omake Chapter'. Basically if you're familiar with anime, you'll know the idea. It's just a bonus chapter. Purely filler, but it serves to break up the action with some nice slice-of-life kind of stuff. Expect a few more of these.**

**Also, I should probably mention there will be no ships in this story (except for the boat kind of ships). Sorry to anyone who likes them, but they simply won't be a focus here. There might be some moments like that here and there, though ultimately, this is a no-shipping zone. Again, sorry.**

**Don't forget to follow, favourite and review! I'll see y'all next time for some actual plot...**


	6. A Mercury View

On a particularly average day at the Garreg Mach Monastery, Isaac was being tested by Edelgard in the ways of the axe. The Adept had used them several times throughout his adventures, though he usually just stuck to his forte in swords. It was Garet who mainly used axes anyway so he never really cared.

What he did care about however, in the present at least, was the fact that he and Edelgard were being watched by that strange girl...Monica was her name. He'd heard about her unusual circumstances, how she'd been captured by some recurring foe known as the Death Knight for a whole year and how she only reappeared a couple months ago. There was something off about this girl. Isaac voiced his suspicions to Byleth at one point - the professor didn't disagree. But the pair decided it'd be better to ignore them...for now at least.

Thusly, Isaac ignored the curious gazes of the subdued red-haired student as he and Edelgard clashed their Training Axes. The Black Eagles' House Leader was rather, well, _adept _with this particular weapon. Her small frame belied her strength. If he hadn't been careful, the spar would've been over and done with very quickly. Combining her monstrous strength with her general axe-related capabilities, Edelgard was an almost inhuman opponent.

"Have you had enough? We can finish this right now, if you'd like," she asked in an almost taunting manner, albeit through breaths; that was evidence to Isaac that he'd been formidable enough too.

"I'm...fine," Isaac replied, also through breaths. "You really are impressive, Edelgard. You would have made for a good companion in my travels, regardless of your lack of Psynergy."

"Thank you. And you would make for a fine knight of the Adrestian Empire," Edelgard similarly complimented her training partner. "It is a shame you may only be here for a short time. If you were a permanent resident of this realm, I would have welcomed you into the empire's military force as soon as I could."

"I guess that wouldn't be too bad…" Isaac considered this.

Monica kept switching her oddly creepy, smile-ridden stare between whoever was speaking. She seemed as if he was listening in on the conversation while being as detached as he could possibly be. Isaac didn't like that. Yet, he had to deal with it.

Before anything else could happen, someone else entered the Training Grounds.

"Professor. Is there something wrong?" Edelgard queried Byleth as he entered the scene, somehow able to discern a look of semi-serious determination from his dull face. Isaac hadn't quite gotten a grip on how to read his emotions yet...it almost reminded him of himself on his first adventure.

"Seteth and Flayn have asked me to accompany them to the Rhodos Coast. There are some members of the Western Church there that are causing trouble. We are to deal with them," Byleth said in a rather commandatory tone that possessed a strong sense of finality to it. "Gather your things and prepare. We are heading out immediately."

"Immediately, Professor? What's the rush?" Monica wondered. She seemed to pout momentarily.

"The Western Church are attempting to steal some religious artifacts from the coast. If we don't deal with them now, then they will surely succeed," Byleth explained. He turned back to Edelgard and Isaac. "Meet me at the front gate in half an hour. If you're late, you'll be left behind."

"Understood," Edelgard nodded in confirmation, as did Isaac.

Byleth turned around and walked out of the Training Grounds, most likely to prepare for the upcoming battle. Isaac checked his bag and found that he still had several Herbs left, for general healing purposes. He also had his Gaia Blade safely sheathed.

Though he lacked any Elixirs to restore his usages of Psynergy, he felt his current level of 'Psynergy Points' (as Garet liked to call it) was high enough that it wouldn't run out during any fight here in Fodlan. And he could just restore it by walking around outside of battle - there were plenty of opportunities to do that. Therefore, the Psynergy Points that governed his Psynergy usage total were fine as they were in Isaac's eyes.

"I'm already prepared," Edelgard suddenly stated, snapping Isaac out of his thoughts. "I repaired my axes and bought a new set of Concoctions just yesterday. I'm more than ready for this fight."

"Same here. I've got what I need," Isaac responded.

"Then let's go. We musn't let the Professor wait."

Isaac and Edelgard decided to leave the Training Grounds together, leaving Monica to go wherever and do whatever. The aforementioned pair walked down to the front gate, where Byleth and some of the other Black Eagles students were waiting, along with their assigned Battalions. Isaac had already been informed on these. Byleth's students were each in command of a group of soldiers, known as Battalions, which allowed for all kinds of special tactical maneuvers, most of which flew over the Adept's head. Due to his unfamiliarity with Fodlan tactics, Isaac was given a special pass to fight on his own, though he was still forced to follow Byleth's instructions on the battlefield.

As time passed, more and more students arrived at the front gate. Eventually, all the Black Eagles showed up, Seteth and Flayn included.

"Thank you all for accompanying myself and Flayn on our mission. The assistance is appreciated," the former of the two thanked the house.

"Don't worry about it, Seteth! We're more than happy to deal with whoever wants to be a jerk this week!" Caspar replied in his usual energetic manner.

"Speak for yourself. I'd be happy elsewhere right about now…" Linhardt yawned.

"S-same! I'd rather be in my room, doing...uh…" Bernadetta struggled to say.

"Do not worry, Linhardt and Bernadetta! We will be done with this matter in no time at all. Especially so, since we now have Isaac on our side," Ferdinand reassured his classmates. He gave Isaac a smile.

"Yeah, don't worry you two. We've got this," the Venus user chipped into the reassurance.

"Y-you really think so?" Bernadetta, or Bernie as she liked to call herself, still hadn't quite gotten used to Isaac's presence as of yet. "I hope we'll be quick, at least…"

Flayn spoke up. "Well then! If we are all ready, then we should be departing! Are we missing someone, Professor?"

"No," Byleth shook his head. "Has everyone finished preparing themselves?"

A collective nod.

"Then we'll set off immediately."

* * *

Such a tiring journey. The trek from Garreg Mach to Rhodos Coast had been quite the long one. Isaac was expecting to have to walk the entire way, but luckily, horses were available. For the sake of ease, the students were paired up and those pairs were assigned to each horse. Seteth and Flayn remained on the former's wyvern as everyone else took their land-based transports. Isaac was paired with Byleth, the Adept having to hold tight in an embarrassing manner.

Nevertheless, they all made it to the Rhodos Coast after a day's travel. Quickly preparing their equipment, the Black Eagles approached the area where the Western Church members were active. They were spotted almost immediately.

"You heretics, who defile our goddess! The sacred coast belongs to us, the Western Church!" the one who seemed to be the leader of the group, a priest, practically yelled at the Black Eagles.

"You are the heretics! Begone from here at once!" Seteth returned.

"Silence, dog of the apostate! Prepare to receive our righteous blades!" the priest exclaimed. Isaac was amazed as to how they could hear each other so well at such a distance.

"I will recapture the monument that priest is protecting. The rest of you should focus on eliminating the surrounding enemies," Seteth strongly suggested, keen to engage the vile heretics.

"You're going in alone?" Isaac doubted this move.

"I am the only one here that can safely navigate this water-infested area. It's better if I do so on my ownsome," Seteth quelled Isaac's doubt. "I am more than capable of such a task."

"Alright, as long as you're okay with it…"

With that out of the way, the fight began. Seteth immediately shot off for the first island and engaged the Western Church foes over there. He had his sights on the second island, the one with the aforementioned monument, but he didn't want to be swarmed by opponents, so he decided to chip away at their forces - one by one.

On the other hand, Byleth, Isaac and the students mostly came across a problem as soon as they started moving. Flayn, Dorothea, Hubert and Linhardt made quite a few paces ahead of everyone else before they noticed what was up.

"Why is everyone moving so slowly?" Dorothea wondered, after firing a Thunder spell at a member of the Western Church.

"It must be because of the sand...our magical makeup must somehow allow us to bypass the movement restrictions the sand forces upon us," Linhardt theorised. "This could be problematic."

"We will not move too far ahead, else we become overwhelmed by the enemy," Hubert instructed his allies. "It would be foolish to proceed without them."

"Indeed," Flayn nodded in agreement. "Let us wait here for them."

So they did. It took only a little bit of time and defence, but the rest of the squad eventually made pace with the mages. The four sorcerers were told to slow themselves so they could match the restricted movements everyone else was stuck with. Isaac desperately wished he had the Sand Psynergy so he could burrow into the sand and bypass this limitation in an instant. Alas, he didn't have it.

Regardless, once he was close enough, it was as simple as slamming the priests, mages and knights with various Psynergy spells. All of which only he and Byleth could see. Only they could tell that gigantic swords made of energy (Odyssey) were dispatching various enemies. Nobody else was able to witness massive slabs of earth (Quake Sphere) launch upwards the foes that were in the Black Eagles' path. The students watched in amazement as many of the Western Church fell to an invisible force. Sometimes even multiple foes fell at once. That only impressed the students further.

But they had no time to vocalise it. They were in a battle, after all. Isaac was soon met with the reality of this world.

"_So these guys really kill their enemies...I know they've told me about this already, it still feels bad to do it…_" Isaac thought as he fought. "_I guess you've gotta do what you've gotta do. It's no different than when we had to kill Saturos, Menardi, Karst and Agatio…_"

Dealing with the moral implications of the fight for now, Isaac continued to help deal with the Western Church heretics. He was soon reminded of his visit to Lamakan Desert, how that place had lots and LOTS of sand, though the Rhodos Coast was nowhere near as sandy as any desert - let alone Lamakan. His self-reminder served to answer another question of his: why he was affected by the sand here like most of the others were. Sand, despite being a type of earth (or Venus), really didn't like him. Isaac was half tempted to beat the sand up with his Psynergy.

Though there were actual opponents to be had. He ended up weakening them as the others went in for the kills. Seteth seemed to be doing fine on his own, but every now and then, Linhardt would cast Physic on him in order to heal whatever wounds he may have accumulated. The sleepy lad wished someone else in his class would learn the spell soon.

Before long, the enemies were entirely dispatched. Not a single soul of the Western Church's forces remained. The Black Eagles took a moment to break, though someone had a request.

"Flayn, will you place some flowers at the monument?" Seteth asked his sister.

"Of course, brother. That is what I came here to do," Flayn accepted without a second thought.

Flayn climbed back on her brother's wyvern, allowing her to make it to the monument without getting herself wet. Byleth was curious, so after he quickly checked on his students, he trudged through the shallow water to investigate what was going on. Everyone else was too tired to do the same.

"That was some battle, huh?" Caspar broke the silence. "Sure the sand sucked, but I had a good time!"

"T-that was terrible...I want to get out of here as soon as possible," Bernadetta remarked, internally cursing the villainous sand.

"Sand is not being uncommon in Brigid. However, it has irritation...it is irritating to walk on. Fighting and hunting on it has much hardness," Petra added.

"If you are not a mage, that is," Ferdinand sighed, placing a hand on his forehead in tiredness. "I do not want to have to deal with that ever again. If I can help it."

"What are you guys complaining about? Just think of it as a special training condition or something!" Caspar suggested with a smile. "It's just an obstacle we have to overcome to improve ourselves!"

"I understand where you're coming from, Caspar, but it doesn't change the fact that it was still irritating to deal with. For others, at least," Linhardt refuted. "For us magic users, it was like walking normally."

"Uh-huh. You all should consider picking up magic at some point. It's really helpful for situations like these…" Dorothea suggested in a playful tone, giggling somewhat.

"I will not be learning magic...it is too complicating for me," Petra admitted.

"I can teach you a little, Petra, if you want. I'm sure I can help you understand," Dorothea offered to her friend. "Just give me the word and I'll be your magic professor for as long as you need."

"Could I receive some lessons as well?" Ferdinand wondered.

"No," Dorothea shook her head.

"That is of no consequence. I too have no desire to learn magic. Lances are fine by me," the orange-haired lancer replied with a confident laugh.

Petra spoke up. "I would very much be liking some magic lessons, Dorothea."

"Consider it done. I'll start teaching you when we get back to the monastery," the songstress stated. Seeing Isaac out of the corner of her eye, an idea formed in her head. "Hey, Isaac, why don't I teach you a few things about Fodlan magic? It would be interesting to see how that can be combined with your Psynergy."

"Actually, I too would be interested in seeing that," Linhardt chipped in. "Allow me to become an instructor in magic for you as well, Isaac. This could make for some interesting research…"

Isaac remained silent for this entire time. He considered Dorothea and Linhardt's offer. There was no way he could lie about it, he was also quite interested in the prospects of fusing traditional Fodlan spells with Weyard's Psynergy. If that was even possible.

Just then, something happened that caught all of their attentions, save for the ones at the monument, who were out of eyesight. Rather, some_one_ appeared.

"Isaac…?"

A girl whose blue hair and attire matched that of the radiant water nearby had come round a corner. A girl that Isaac recognised very well. He stood up, tiredness faded completely, then bolted straight for her.

"Mia!" he called out as he approached her. "It's really you, Mia?"

"Yes, it's me…I knew I wasn't alone in this world," Mia, the Mercury Adept, answered her party member's query. She looked past Isaac, noticing the students of the Black Eagles that were all staring up at her and the other Adept. "Who are they?"

"Those are some new friends of mine that I met sometime after appearing in this world...tell me, Mia, what do you know about this place? When did you appear? Where were you? How are you?" Isaac rapidly fired out some more questions.

"Uh, well, first of all, I've learned quite a bit about this world. Fodlan, they call it. Secondly, I woke up in a nearby village about...a week ago, I believe," Mia was slightly overwhelmed by the amount of questions, but knew that her friend was only concerned for her wellbeing. She giggled at the last question. "And I'm fine, Isaac. How are you?"

"I'm good...let me introduce you to my new friends. I'm sure you'll love them…"

And so, Isaac led Mia down the sets of stairs to where the Black Eagles students were resting. He promptly initiated the introductions. Everyone was quick to become comfortable as well as trusting of Mia, Isaac vouching for her being a generally good person. Though Bernadetta's anxiety only worsened at the addition of a new stranger to her house…

Meanwhile, a certain turquoise haired man watched the scene unfold.

"_I see they are finally starting to reunite...that won't matter. Solon's plans are soon coming to fruition...I am very curious to see exactly what that old man has cooked up. I'll do anything to make sure it happens...I wonder if you'll get in our way, Adepts,_" he thought to himself.

The man teleported away, the Black Eagles and the Adepts none the wiser of his presence.

* * *

_**Author Notes: **_**So Mia finally joins the fold! Thought it'd make sense for her to show up here, considering all the water that's in the area and such.**

**Don't be afraid to ask me questions or point out any inaccuracies or any sort of problems that may crop up in these chapters. Social interaction is good! Gimme more of that, please. That and self improvement. Criticism is good too. You get the idea, I assume…**

**Anyways, I'll see ya next time.**


	7. Friendly Flayn - Omake 2

Another week gone by. The Water Adept Mia soon got used to life at Garreg Mach Monastery, just as her friend Isaac had done the same. He showed her the school's various facilities and explained how life generally worked around here. Lady Rhea was relatively quick in accepting Mia to the fold - even more so than with Isaac. Although he had his fair share of skepticism, he too focused on thanking the archbishop for letting his friend in to really care about what Rhea may or may not have been intending. Skepticism came later.

Thusly, Mia was integrated into the Black Eagles as yet another honorary student. The students of the red-clothed house were more than happy with welcoming a fresh face. Another shared meal was held for her only a day after her arrival. Mia soon made friends with the students; she happened upon a sudden attachment to Dorothea especially.

Fully and totally accepted into the Black Eagle House, Mia soon became adjusted to monastery life. One day, she'd been exploring the grounds on her ownsome whilst Isaac was being tested by a member of the Blue Lions House whose name oddly struck a chord with the Adepts...Felix. It was strange how similar yet dissimilar the two Felixes were. Anyway, Mia was strolling the grounds of Garreg Mach, finding some interest in the Cathedral of all places.

She was met with a friendly face.

"Oh, hello! You must be Mia, the new arrival from Isaac's homeworld of Weyard," Flayn greeted the Mercury user. "I have already introduced myself, but allow me to do so again for the sake of formality. My name is Flayn."

"Yes, I'm Mia," the girl in question nodded and smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Flayn."

"It is nice to meet you as well!" Flayn responded with a smile of her own. "Normally - as you are visiting the Cathedral - I would ask if you are a devout believer of the goddess, though I have rather strong doubts that the goddess exists in your world. Am I correct in assuming that?"

"You're right. Well, from what I can tell, your goddess doesn't. We do at least have a god in our world and I've actually met him," Mia revealed.

Flayn appeared to be shocked. "You have come into contact with a god or some sort of divine being? I am most impressed...please do tell me about him. I am very curious!"

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you much about The Wise One. He likes to keep to himself. Though, he did have a grand plan that was ultimately meant to test our courage and conviction to save our world, so he's definitely not an evil deity or anything," Mia sighed, recounting what the one-eyed rock god did back then.

"I see…"

Flayn thought about this for some time. The amount of time she spent thinking almost put Mia off from the entire conversation, but the smaller girl seemed to realise what she'd been doing and what nearly happened.

"Oh! I am sorry. It is incredibly interesting to hear about the past of a world entirely unknown to your own. No, it is incredibly interesting to hear about another world entirely! Forgive me for being lost in my thoughts all alone for a moment," she apologised.

"It's fine," Mia smiled again. "I agree, I find myself absolutely fascinated with everything regarding this world. Even the simpler stuff like the way way buildings are designed, or the different customs people deal with here...it's so radically different that it's intriguing."

"I cannot agree more. I am even learning more about Fodlan as life progresses. Some may regard my curiosity as naivety, but it is not unhealthy to wish to learn. Do you not agree?"

Mia nodded. "I do. If you don't know something, why not ask? What's wrong with that? Anybody that calls you naive are really naive themselves."

"Hehe," Flayn giggled. "I have not heard anybody say that before. Yet, I cannot help but agree. Thank you for your words, Mia. They have been most enlightening."

"You're very welcome, Flayn," Mia responded.

A small silence dawned upon them as the pair of girls appreciated each other's presence.

"Would you like to attain a cup of tea with me, Mia? We can share more stories about Fodlan and Weyard as we drink and eat sweets."

"I would love to, Flayn."

And so, the two healers left the Cathedral and soon got their mits on some tea as well as some appropriate snacks. Finding a place in the courtyard next to the dining hall, the duo chatted and chatted for hours to come, not noticing as the time passed by. They were simply having too much fun together.

* * *

_**Author Notes: **_**Here's another Omake chapter! Felt like I should have a calm before the storm kind of thing. If you've played Three Houses and you've been paying attention to this fic's timeline in regards to the original game's, then you'll know exactly what's gonna happen next...**


	8. The Cause of Sorrow

Upon a fine late morning, several of the Black Eagles students were sitting around inside their classroom, partaking in a shared study session regarding Professor Byleth's latest assignment. Mia was there too. Even though she didn't have to or necessarily want to study as the rest were, she wanted to be with them. She was also partially interested in what exactly students of Fodlan were looking into.

As it was considered a social event of sorts, conversations booted silence out of the door. Sounds of talk filled the ears of those in the room. But no-one seemed to mind.

"Man, I still can't believe how awesome Dorothea was in the White Heron Cup," Caspar remarked out of nowhere. The songstress in question smiled.

"Thank you, Caspar. I have to say, my competitors were quite good as well. There was some fierce competition," she added. "I only barely edged out Lorenz and Annette."

"Yeah, but you won! You beat them! That's all that matters in my book," Caspar exclaimed.

Linhardt peered up from his book. "Caspar, you don't read books. How can you have one if you don't read it? It might as well be a stone at that point."

"Ah, that's true...you get the idea anyway, I hope," the turquoise haired student admitted defeat. "If you ask me, we could've sent anyone in and we still would've won. I'm sure that even you could do it, Linhardt!"

"No," the sleepy one responded with an unnecessarily large frown. "Not happening. Ever."

"I am thinking that Mia would have been dancing very well. She would make the other dancers taste defeat," Petra chimed in.

Mia, who'd been reading a book on Fodlan history to pass the time, found herself blushing upon hearing the Brigid princess' words. She hadn't turned around to reveal it though.

"R-really? You think so?" the Mercury Adept wondered after turning around to join in on the conversation. "I've never danced before...Dorothea's a songstress, she's used to this kind of thing. How could I have done well, especially compared to her?"

"Don't sell yourself short, Mia. You're absolutely beautiful. I'm sure you would've crushed that snobby Lorenz and that overworked Annette easily," Dorothea complimented her fellow female. "With just a little tutoring from Professor, you'd be an unstoppable force of nature on the dancefloor. And don't think I didn't see you at the ball the other day...you were simply amazing then. I have nothing but confidence that you'd be the best in show."

"Thank you…" Mia thanked, blushing again.

Interrupting their wonderful conversation and study time was none other than Professor Byleth himself. He came in through the closed doors, initially frightening Bernadetta, though she calmed down once she realised who it was.

"Professor? Is there something amiss?" Ferdinand asked, sensing that to be the case.

"Demonic Beasts have been sighted at the unused chapel. We are heading out to deal with them. Prepare for battle immediately," Byleth instructed his students.

"Beasts? As in, plural? How dangerous…" Ferdinand commented.

Mia looked between everyone's worried faces with a confused expression. "What's a Demonic Beast?"

"They're huge, evil creatures that'll attack anyone. They're incredibly dangerous, so if at least one has shown up near the monastery, that could spell big trouble for everyone," Caspar explained. "I'll get my gauntlets, Professor."

Byleth nodded. He dashed out of the classroom, as did the students. They all gathered their respective gear and met outside the front gate, per standard procedure. Everyone only needed to grab their weapons so it didn't take long for them for them to meet up. Jeralt and Alois were there in addition to the young ones. Their presence only served to encourage the students - they knew they were in good hands.

Nothing could go wrong with them around.

* * *

Well, those beasts were certainly demonic. There wasn't a better way to describe them. Massive, vicious creatures that oozed a foul odor of evil. It looked like they could rip apart any normal person with a casual and careless swipe of their claws. And there were five of them here. Here, in this ruined part of the monastery's outer areas.

"These things look like the sort of monsters we'd find in Weyard…" Isaac commented, grimacing slightly at the pure darkness the Demonic Beasts seemed to be. "From what I can tell, these guys look like they're a lot stronger than the average monster. Be careful, everyone."

"You don't need to tell us to be careful, kid," Jeralt replied to the Adept. "This isn't our first time fighting them. You'll need to watch out for their barriers. Damage them enough, then they'll shatter and the beasts will be much more vulnerable."

"Got it. Something tells me these Demonic Beasts will take a lot of punishment to bring down," Isaac guessed. He brought his Gaia Blade out of its hilt.

"You catch on quick. That's a good quality for a warrior to have. But enough of that. Let's take down these monsters before they bring harm to those students over there," Jeralt used his lance to point to the three students seemingly cornered by different beasts. "I'll head through the middle. The rest of you, protect those students."

Everyone nodded, their overall goal laid out before them. Five Demonic Beasts...this would certainly be a challenge. Even the most stalwart of the Black Eagles were shaking slightly, doubtful they could succeed against such a number of powerful foes. The full-time students looked to their Professor.

"We will win," he simply said.

That was all they needed. With their morale boosted to an absolute maximum, the Black Eagles and even the Adepts were ready to enter the fight. Byleth calculated various aspects of the battle on the spot, including which particular directions his students should go in, the distances of the Demonic Beasts in relation to the mostly defenceless students and such. Soon, he gave the order.

Half of the Black Eagles dashed over to the west side of the unused chapel, dealing with the beast that was there. Another half went to the right so they could deal with the beasts closer to that side. Meanwhile, Jeralt and the Adepts charged straight through the middle. Byleth wanted to be there with his father, though his desire to be with his Eagles was stronger. Barely. He took command of the westmost half while Edelgard did the same for the rightmost group. As the ex-Ashen Demon did so, he couldn't help but worry about the three that took on the Demonic Beast that was closer to the front. However, he was certain the trio could deal with it.

Byleth pierced through his group's beast's barrier using several slashes of his Sword of the Creator, allowing the likes of Bernadetta and Dorothea to blast the creature's eyes and for Caspar along with himself to get in close in order to deal some quite hefty damage. Edelgard did the same thing in her half. She smashed open the Demonic Beast's barrier, an attack that was followed by a similar blinding tactic from Hubert and Linhardt, which in turn came before a three-way strike between Petra, Ferdinand and Edelgard herself. Although Flayn and Linhardt had to heal their respective groups at various points, their beasts were eventually downed.

Though Jeralt, Isaac and Mia were a bit faster with theirs. Upon defeating it, the three were met with a very peculiar sight.

"Did...did that beast just transform into a person?" Mia wondered. "We've seen this before, haven't we, Isaac?"

"Yeah. It's just like what happened with the Fusion Dragon and the Doom Dragon. I hope this is just a coincidence…" Isaac nodded in agreement.

"You kids say you've seen this kind of thing happen before? Heh, I'm beginning to see just how similar our worlds really are," Jeralt added. "All we need is invisible magic, then we'll have a second Weyard, or whatever it is. Heh."

Everyone quickly got back on track. There were still more Demonic Beasts to deal with. Only two left after Byleth and Edelgard's groups finished theirs up. Both were located more towards the middle of the area, though the split paths rejoined with one another. But the beasts were still relatively close to one another so the split had to persist somewhat. Jeralt hooked up with his son's group which continued to deal with the leftmost beast while the Adepts joined with Edelgard's half.

All this occurred while a set of prying eyes looked on from afar.

Eventually, with the combined efforts of all the students, the battalions and the Adepts, the remaining Demonic Beasts were bested (beasted?). Left behind from their large, overbearing bodies were the unconscious remains of random students. The ones that were not affected by whatever caused the transformations quickly ran back to Garreg Mach - they feared for their lives. Some of the other soldiers carried the unconscious bodies out of the area. The mission was complete.

"Hmm...there isn't a trace of evidence to be found here," Jeralt said as he and Byleth inspected a decrepit building while Isaac and Mia kept an eye of them for security's sake. "This must have something to do with Remire. Perhaps…"

"Wait!" the voice of Monica called out, running over to the father and son pair.

"Huh? Another student?" Jeralt wondered. "Run along now."

"Thanks for all your help, sir!" she happily thanked the older knight, a cheerful smile on her face.

The girl began to dash away from the scene with a spring in her step, seemingly energised from...something. Whether it was the thrill of watching the action unfold right in front of her or whatever, Jeralt didn't know.

He also didn't know about that dagger that suddenly pierced his back.

"You're just a pathetic old man…" Monica practically spat. She slowly pulled out her bloodstained dagger, Jeralt's body lifelessly falling to the floor. "How dare you get in the way of my brilliant plan...you dog."

Byleth, Isaac and Mia stood there with their mouths agape, too surprised to do anything in retaliation. Though it seemed the Professor had an immediate idea of what to do. Borrowing on the power granted to him by Sothis, the world suddenly turned into a strange techno-hypno space type environment. Time was paused. This was the Divine Pulse. With it, he was ready to turn back the clock in order to save his father.

The world turned back to normal, Jeralt still alive and Monica's stabbing left undone for now. This really, really confused Isaac and Mia, who were both completely unaffected by the Divine Pulse. Jeralt had died right before their very eyes...now they were seeing the same scene play out yet again.

"What was that…?" Mia wondered, slightly disoriented.

"The world was frozen...did we get sent back in time? How's that even possible?" Isaac questioned reality. "If what just happened is going to happen again, then we've got to stop her from killing him-"

Their words were interrupted when Byleth rapidly branded his Sword of the Creator and used it long-range functions to stab Monica before it was too late. Almost as if he knew about his father's fate as well...Isaac narrowed his eyes as he began to connect the dots.

But blade met shield. A shield of dark magic. Monica's stab succeeded while Byleth's did not.

"...you dog," Monica spat once again. She turned, noticing what was transpiring. "Huh? What are you doing here?"

"You must survive. Merely because there is still a role I require you to fulfill," the pupiless man Monica spoke to answered her query. He seemed to glance at the Adepts for a moment before holding onto his dark red-haired subordinate and teleporting away.

Faced with the harsh reality of his Divine Pulse having failed him, Byleth rushed to the side of his father's body once the two villainous figures warped from the scene. Isaac and Mia did the same. They chose to hover over the body as Byleth held him up.

"Sorry...it looks like...I'm going to have to leave you now," Jeralt was barely able to say through the immense pain.

Byleth found himself faced with an unknown emotion. Water formed at the front of his eyes, the tears dripping down onto his father's face. Then something happened. A aqua-haired man teleported in out of nowhere and blasted Mia with some kind of powerful ice blade spell - a Psynergy spell.

"Mia!" Isaac called out, his friend now unconscious after a quick check. "Alex...Alex?! What are you doing here?"

"There will be no healing," Alex replied with an overconfident, smug expression. "Don't you worry, Isaac. We'll meet again. I just had a small role to fulfill here...now that I am done, I will take my leave."

He warped away, smirking as he did so. Isaac looked down upon his friend and internally cursed the irritating visage of that cowardly Water Adept. The faint words of a dying Jeralt reminded him of the pressing situation at hand...he was at least pleased that Mia hadn't met the same fate.

Glancing at Mia, then Jeralt...an idea was forming in the Venus Adept's mind. Mia, Jeralt; Mia, Jeralt; Mia, Jeralt...himself, too. The lightbulb flashed on.

"Byleth! I know this is a tough time, but hear me out! I know you can use a basic healing spell, so keep using that on your father! Keep using that as much as you can! I have an idea!" Isaac instructed the crying Byleth, who wiped his tears, nodded and began to do as he was instructed, though tears kept coming.

Isaac focused on Mia. With his Revive Psynergy, he brought the Mercury Adept back to a normal state. He quickly informed her of the situation and instructed her to use the likes of Ply as well as the Dew Djinni on Jeralt while he used Revive. Many strange lights, symbols and visages appeared before Byleth's eyes as he threw in the use of his Heal magic.

"_This must be more of their Psynergy power…_" Sothis remarked in the professor's mind. "_Seeing it closer like this truly rings a bell with me. It as if I have seen this somewhere before._"

Byleth didn't respond. He was too busy using Heal as many times as he could.

The combination of all these spells and Psynergies was enough to fill the surrounding area in a somewhat large transfusion of light and colour. It caught the attention of the Black Eagles, who ran over to see what the heck was going on.

As it turned out, they were saving a man's life. Jeralt had resigned to his fate. He hadn't expected to be saved, especially by something not of Fodlan origin. Leaning on the ground, he pulled himself up. The man checked himself to ensure he wasn't dead - reality soon struck. He wasn't dead. Jeralt was alive.

"Y-you...you kids," Jeralt was surprised. "Thanks. I guess I owe you all one now, don't I?"

Byleth hugged his father, who accepted the embrace and returned it fully. Isaac and Mia's hearts were warmed upon seeing a genuine show of love between father and son. The students of the Black Eagles felt this way as well, but without the context, they were mostly confused.

That was okay with Byleth. He was simply happy to see his father alive.

* * *

_**Author Notes: **_**Bam! The Cause of Sorrow, but with a twist. Jeralt lives thanks to the intervention of Isaac and Mia. It makes you wonder...wouldn't Alex have known something like this was gonna happen? If that's the case, why did he bother attacking Mia? Hmm…**

**Also, just gonna clarify real quick if anyone's wondering, my justification for having Isaac be affected by the sand in the last chapter was pretty much because of Lamakan Desert and other dungeons or lighthouses from Golden Sun that involved sand. Isaac and co. get thrown around a lot by sand in those places, so I assumed Fodlan sand would mess 'em about as well. That's just my assumption anyway.**

**Speaking of anyways, I'll see you guys next time.**

**Also, late, but happy Golden Sunday!**


	9. Dangerous Darkness - Omake 3

At night, the black-hearted ones thrive. They come together with one another and scheme in the darkness, the silence of the night. Hidden within the shrouds of faint purple mist in the realms of the unknown forest were the ones who slithered in the dark. Plus a new friend.

Solon - the brains of the vile operation - had his face contorted in such a manner that could only be described as anger. The person he was looking at, Alex, returned the pupiless one's gaze with a smug stare of his own.

"You fool!" Solon barked at the Mercury Adept. "Why did you leave that earth wielder alone? You know he possesses that mild healing power, so why did you not prevent him from using it? You've nearly sabotaged our entire operation!"

"That's a wild exaggeration. We were still able to perform the experiment, so what does it matter?" Alex asked with a small shrug.

"We _needed _him dead, you buffoon! With him alive, the wielder of the Fell Star will have no desires of revenge, thus we cannot bait him into our trap! Motivating him into coming for us was the perfect way to unleash our weapon. You have prevented that from happening. It will be much more difficult for us to use the weapon now," Solon explained, an intense frown popping out of his already grotesque forehead.

"You don't get it," Alex sighed. "The mere fact that we attempted to kill his father should be enough of a motivator. Perhaps it's not as strong as your idea. But it will still be enough for us to do what we need. Besides, I don't care for the life of that man. I merely wanted to hurt Mia. It felt good."

The demonic, clown-like girl beside them giggled. For some reason.

"I'm impressed, Alex. You really can be a pain to those terrible humans when you need to be," Kronya complimented the turquoise-haired man.

"I must thank you, Kronya. Though, do remember that I also don't care for wanton death and destruction like you do," Alex returned. Kronya pouted in response.

"Perhaps you should remember why it is that you're with us," Solon remarked.

Alex grinned. "Perhaps you should remember the power I wield. The Golden Sun is far above that meek magic you use."

"..."

Solon couldn't think of an adequate comeback. Alex had shown off quite a bit of his own power when he first came into contact with the group of darkness. Whatever this Golden Sun thing was exactly...it certainly was powerful. Solon wondered just how much of Alex's power belonged to himself.

Then everyone's thoughts and attentions were directed elsewhere. A heavily armoured individual, cloaked in redness, someone who hid behind the safety of a mask...the Flame Emperor had arrived. Due to the nature of their attire, none of the other three could tell what this person wanted at a glance. But it all came clear soon enough.

"Solon. Kronya," Flame Emperor greeted their subordinates, almost forcing it out. The masked person's gaze was soon fixed onto Alex. "You. What exactly are you up to, Alex?"

"Ah yes, the Flame Emperor. It really is a shame you're not a Mars Adept. It'd fit you quite nicely, I think," Alex played coy.

"Don't fool me around, Alex. I want to know what your goal is. You don't seem to gain anything by assisting the likes of Solon. There must be some ulterior motive to your actions. Perhaps you plan to stab Solon and Kronya in the back as soon as their plans reach their apex," Flame Emperor guessed.

"How astute of you. Of course I do have some motive in joining with these…'people'. But I have already made it clear to them that I will do anything and everything I can in order to make their dreams a reality. And I will not backstab them in any capacity," Alex revealed, retaining his grin. "Before you get so nosey, maybe I should reveal your identity to the world…"

"What?! Solon, Kronya, did either of you dare tell him?!" Flame Emperor demanded to know.

"No. We did not," Solon answered. "He is likely toying with you."

"That may be the case. However, you know I cannot take that risk. We know that Alex is a wild card, so why should we tell him the truth?" Flame Emperor rhetorically asked. "We wouldn't know what he would do with that information. So it's best we refrain from telling him."

"I'm right here, you know," Alex narrowed his eyes. "It's rude to talk about someone that's nearby without including them in the conversation. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, considering it's coming from you."

"You will not provoke me...not again," Flame Emperor stated. "I am leaving now. You'd best not cause any more trouble, Alex."

Just like that, the Flame Emperor warped away from the scene in a flash of purple. Alex's grin remained.

"_I won't cause any trouble…_" he began to think to himself. "_For now. Soon enough, my patience will reward me. I'll be able to reap the benefits of everybody's hard work._"

* * *

_**Author Notes: **_**Happy late Halloween! This third Omake chapter is kinda dark themed, so I guess it works as a Halloween special? Eh, you decide. See you next time for a story chapter.**


	10. Oil and Water and Jupiter

Yet another bright Sunday emerged onto the peaceful place known as Garreg Mach Monastery. Isaac and Mia, having nothing really to do, opted for a rousing round of exploration. Although the pair of them had already seen the monastery's grounds many times over...there truly wasn't much they could do together. Mia wasn't too keen on roughing herself up in training and Isaac wasn't a huge fan of reading hours on end. So the best thing they could've done together was a simple shared walk.

An uneventful walk. Not much happened. The two Adepts did meet the so-called Gatekeeper - he was a nice fellow. Very eager to do his job, Isaac and Mia concluded. Following that, they went over to the Stables to check out the horses to see how they were doing. A student from the Golden Deer House - Marianne - was tending to them. But it seemed as if she was _speaking to them_ as she did so. Slightly unnerved, the duo fast walked away, keen to put those confusing thoughts behind them.

That's when they heard shouting coming from the Reception Hall. Bored out of their minds, Isaac and Mia quickly investigated. Inside, well, was…

"And stop making me shout. It causes the old wound to hurt again," a rather scantily dressed professor, Manuela, said in a pained tone.

"Then perhaps you'd best stay quiet. Keep your emotions in check, I'd say," an aged professor, Hanneman, suggested.

Byleth was there too, seemingly a victim to the bout of bickering that was going on between the other professors. Isaac and Mia both sighed. They'd heard about the childish behaviour Manuela and Hanneman had with each other elsewhere. To see it in action made all the exaggerations justified. The Adepts were just about to leave when Byleth looked over in their direction, which resulted in the other professors doing the same - out of curiosity.

"Oh, it's those two. Why don't you come over here? We don't bite," Manuela asked, playfully.

"Unless you count our bickering as a form of metaphorical or verbal biting," Hanneman remarked. "Do come over. I would like to introduce myself to you two formally. I am certain that Manuela would like to do the same."

"Sure. Meeting new people can be fun. Especially when they're from another world," Manuela joked.

With the tension eased (for now, it seemed), Isaac and Mia heeded their words and moved towards the three teachers. Friendly smiles were aplenty.

"Hello there, Professor Manuela. Professor Hanneman," Mia greeted. Isaac nodded, as if to say the same without actually saying it.

"Hello. Mia's your name, isn't it?" Manuela greeted in return. The Mercury Adept inclined her head in confirmation. "I must say, it's a very lovely name. Almost sounds like mine. Just remove a few letters from it, add some others and you've got yourself a copy of yours."

"I suppose it does…" Mia agreed after some moments of consideration. "Anyway, Isaac and I were wandering around the monastery when we heard some shouting coming from here. Now that we see it was you two, I can gather what happened."

"Is our bickering that infamous? Heavens. I wouldn't want that to be what I'm known for. It would be a twisted joke if it somehow became more well known than my Crest research," Hanneman sighed in embarrassment. "But yes, Manuela and I were indeed bickering."

"It was less bickering, more like you being an insufferable oaf again," Manuela frowned.

"There is no need for such vulgar name calling!" Hanneman exclaimed, also frowning.

Byleth seemed to have had enough. "Let's all get along," he spoke, following a sigh and a disappointed shake of the head.

"I am sorry, Byleth. It seems every time we try to say something to each other, we end up at each other's throats," Hanneman apologised. "Do pardon me. But I did have a reason for coming here in the first place. I have brand new information regarding the Death Knight's hiding place."

Isaac and Mia nodded along. They already heard about the enigmatic Death Knight from the students. Mainly the ones from the Black Eagle House, though some students from the Blue Lion and Golden Deer houses had their share of stories to...share.

"What? Really?! You should have started with that, you know," Manuela incredulously responded.

"Several students have reported sightings on the western edge of the Sealed Forest. That's the forest no-one from the monastery is permitted to enter, by the way," Hanneman informed the other four, explaining the forest for the sake of the Adepts. "While the authenticity of these reports have yet to be verified, it is still a very real possibility. I was going to inform Seteth of this, as per protocol."

"No! That's too slow! Byleth, Isaac, Mia, let's leave this old geezer behind and get going!" Manuela strongly insisted, surprising the mentioned three with how sudden her exclamation was.

While Hanneman was berating Manuela for the use of the 'old geezer' derogatory name, Byleth and the Adepts considered the situation at hand. Byleth was aware of the protocol Hanneman brought up but he knew the Death Knight well (somewhat). He knew that deadly foe wouldn't stay around in one location for too long. Isaac and Mia just wanted to help take out the threat as soon as possible.

"I agree," Byleth eventually said.

"We'll come with you," Mia also replied. "This Death Knight person sounds dangerous...we should probably take care of him before he becomes an active threat."

"I agree with that, too," Byleth smiled.

"Good! I'll go scout ahead. I'm coming for you, Death Knight!" Manuela almost growled in some kind of primal determination for revenge. She immediately ran off.

"Wait, Manuela! It would not do for you to get killed...at all, actually," Hanneman called out to her.

It was of no use. Manuela was too far, both physically and mentally. Too far to hear anyone call out to her. She only had one thing on her mind: to kill the Death Knight. Byleth, Hanneman, Isaac and Mia rounded up the Black Eagles students - another battle was about to begin.

* * *

Those that were forced to follow after Manuela and her reckless decision to rush ahead found themselves in a rather mountainous location. Unbefitting of the usual sorts of grey found in these kinds of regions, quite a lot of grass was dotted around, though there were some stone constructs to keep things from being overwhelmingly green. Hills were immensely plentiful in this area - the group could barely see Manuela.

"It seems she's gotten herself in a tight spot...even if she's only got herself to blame, we cannot abandon her," Hanneman summarised upon scanning the area.

Numerous nameless bandits were dotted around the place. Not all of them could've been seen from where the Black Eagles plus Hanneman plus the Adepts were, but it was clear that a number of them were approaching Manuela. Axes, gauntlets and bows were pointed in her direction.

"We've got to get over there, quick," Mia stated what was on everyone's mind. "This environment is certainly hard to navigate. We can't simply jump over there."

"That is indeed true, miss Mia. We will have to make our way through the enemy forces on the path ahead of us before we can reunite with Manuela," Hanneman agreed with a nod. "Let us proceed with caution."

So they did exactly that. Byleth, his students, Hanneman and the Adepts all progressed together, their combined might and tactics allowing them to take down each bandit as they came. There weren't too many on their path, thus making the fight kind of a breeze. It was clear they were up against a rather undercooked bandit group. Caspar was even disappointed at how dull the battle became, but a chastising from Dorothea and Petra got him on the right track of thinking.

Everyone was glad this wasn't a particularly threatening battle. Linhardt immediately healed up all the minor wounds mostly everyone received, so it really wasn't too dangerous, especially compared to some other fights the students had faced in recent times. But...

Manuela wasn't having a great time. She was dodging arrows and axe slashes left, right and centre. Luckily, there was a small forest nearby she was using to make life easier for herself. Literally. The biggest problem was that she was focusing on becoming a Bishop, a class that's never been known for its combat capabilities. The woman only had a basic understanding of Reason magic - she could only cast Thunder. Nosferatu was her only other offensive spell. However, she did have some swordplay under her belt, so she wasn't too limited.

Blades weren't exactly her strong suit. It was a good thing no other casters were nearby, or else she'd barely be able to eliminate them on her own. These armed bandits were taken down with a few swings of Thunder and Nosferatu. She barely had to swing her Iron Sword.

Meanwhile, with Byleth and company, they'd broken past a good chunk of enemy forces. The leader of the bandit group was within sight. With nobody else from his group around to help, the leader gripped his axe in a mix of fear and determination.

"Agh...you losers...you may have gotten past my men, but you'll never beat me, the leader of the Death God Gang!" the aforementioned leader shouted in some kind of surge of bravado.

"Death God Gang…? Oh my...it seems I may have made a blunder," Hanneman realised, sweating from his use of spells, general battle movements and embarrassment. "No matter. If we eliminate this individual, that should force the other bandits to flee or surrender. Or perhaps they'll give up!"

"No way! We'll never give up! We at the Death God Gang will never surrender, no matter who or what we're up against! We're invincible-" the leader was promptly quietened by a Fire spell from Byleth. Another one finished him off.

"He irritated me," the ex-mercenary disclosed. Hanneman coughed, as if to ease the awkwardness.

"Well, that about settles it. I see the other bandits are fleeing, just as I expected," the elder professor noticed the bandits doing just that. He looked over to Manuela, who was hiding behind a tree somewhat nearby. "Manuela, are you without injury?"

"For the most part. I do wish we healers could, y'know, heal _ourselves_. I don't get that at all," Manuela sighed. "But I'm fine. Thank you for your concern. It's a shame I couldn't get my revenge…wait, what's that?"

In the near-distance, a noticeable galloping sound could be heard, followed by the scream of a young man...someone that Isaac and Mia almost fully recognised. They had their suspicions which were fully confirmed when a certain Adept emerged from a small forest's clearing. Behind him was a person with massive, black and imposing armour. His deathly mask only served to heighten how truly terrifying this individual was.

"The Death Knight! So he is here," Manuela growled, brandishing her sword. "I'm gonna pay you back!"

"Wait, Manuela!" Isaac finally broke his streak of silence for today. "It looks like the Death Knight is trying to attack one of our other friends. Let us take care of it."

"What, why?! I came all the way here so I could make him feel the same as I felt when he stabbed me! Why would I ever relinquish that honour to someone else?" Manuela asked, a sharp frown on her face.

"Manuela, you fool! Do you really suppose you are capable enough to fight the Death Knight on your ownsome? He was even a challenge to Professor Byleth! If you went in there now, you would wind up dead," Hanneman told her. "Isaac and Mia may not have our tactical prowess, but their power is nothing to scoff at. They'll have the element of surprise on their side as well. Victory is surely within their reach."

The alcoholic professor grumbled a little, then sheathed her blade. "...Fine. Let the new kids take care of it. You're buying me a drink when we get back, though."

"We'll see about that," Hanneman returned. "It's all yours, Isaac and Mia. We will be ready to assist you if need be."

"Right. Thanks, Professor Hanneman," Mia thanked him.

With that out of the way, Isaac and Mia zoomed over to the corner of the region, where their friend Ivan was desperately trying to fight off the long reaching slashes of the Death Knight's scythe of darkness. The young Jupiter Adept was quite surprised to see his two companions suddenly standing beside him. Even the Death Knight was intrigued.

"What-" Ivan looked to his left, then right. "Isaac? Mia? What are you guys doing here?"

"We could ask you that very same question," Mia answered with a smile. "I don't think we have the time to discuss...well, anything at the moment."

She motioned to the Death Knight with her head.

"Right. Of course. We'll speak after we deal with this...person. But I'll say this now...it's nice to see you two again," Ivan nodded before smiling at his friends. That smile soon turned into a determined glare, one aimed directly at the man on horseback in front of them.

"More meddlesome Adepts have entered the scene...you cannot be allowed to live," Death Knight ominously stated.

"Look, I don't know what it is you have against Adepts. I don't even know how you know of them. But would you please leave me and my friends alone?" Ivan near-pleaded. "You've been chasing me for...quite some time now. At this point, you're clearly outnumbered, so you should probably give up."

"Indeed. If you know what Adepts are, you should know what we're capable of. You don't stand a chance...not on your own," Mia added.

The Death Knight remained silent. He simply pointed his scythe at the Adepts, an obvious intent to kill leaking out from his very being. Although he had a mask, the Adepts hoped he was at least a little bit scared.

"Adepts are far too dangerous. Their presence in Fodlan will bring about the end of times...I will eliminate them before this happens...starting with you," Death Knight gripped his scythe.

His killing intent now stronger than ever, the Death Knight's grip on his weapon intensified way further than it needed to. He swung the weapon, hoping to strike down all three of these impudent fighters at once...no dice. The attack was blocked by Isaac.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but there's no way Adepts will bring about the 'end times', or whatever it is. We've only helped our world! Therefore, we'll do the same here, as that's what Adepts...no, that's what good people do in general!" Isaac yelled, p'd off to the max.

One of his several Djinn creatures appeared above his head, the power of which merged with Isaac's own strength. He unleashed the power of Vine, performing a regular-seeming sword slash on the Death Knight. The attack slightly cut through the intimidating individual's armour. Something was certainly amiss.

Death Knight found that his movements became much more sluggish after Isaac's attack. Such was the power of Vine. The Venus Adept wasn't done yet, however. He utilised the ability of his oldest Djinn friend, Flint, to deal a sword slash of immense power. Then came Sap, which partially healed Isaac after the strike was complete. Finally came Ground. This one prevented the Death Knight from attacking, which gave Isaac the perfect opportunity to break loose the personification of his rage.

Judgment reigned down upon the Death Knight. Literally. A gigantic blue knight shot up into the sky and charged up an equally large ball of light blue energy. The knight then fired that ball of destructive energy down onto the area, aiming solely for the Death Knight. This energy covered the immediate area, though the students and professors were out of the blast zone and the Adepts were unaffected.

However, the Death Knight was nowhere to be found. Not a single trace of his being remained.

"Where'd he go? Did that just...is Judgment usually that powerful?" Ivan wondered.

"He teleported away. That is something he tends to do, especially when he knows he cannot succeed," Hanneman informed the Adepts, after he, Manuela, Byleth and the students came over to check up on proceedings. "Did you not see him warp? He was right in front of you."

"We didn't see it. Isaac unleashed a Summon. We were too focused on that…" Mia sighed. "He probably teleported right before the attack hit him. That's never happened before."

"You've not battled a foe that can teleport? Granted, he hasn't used that ability in combat. Not until now, anyway. At least he is gone for now. We can all rest easy," Hanneman smiled, easing the tension.

"So it seems like I won't be getting my revenge any time soon...oh well, I suppose that could've gone a lot worse," Manuela seemed somewhat upset, before cheering herself back up instantly. "And you've reunited with another one of your friends, how lovely. I assume he'll be joining the Black Eagles as well?"

"What?" Ivan asked, utterly confused.

"We'll explain everything on the way back to the monastery…" Mia reassured the wind user.

So began the moderately lengthy journey back to Garreg Mach. Isaac and Mia debriefed Ivan on everything that's happened to them since their respective arrivals in Fodlan as well as various things they've both learned about the new world, with some help from the Black Eagles students, who were all promptly introduced to the Jupiter Adept. A new friend was in their midst.

Yet there was something else to worry about. That Death Knight…

* * *

_**Author Notes**_**: I don't have much to say here. Except, well, Ivan's joined the party now! All we need is Garet...when will he show up, I wonder…?**


	11. Rumoured Nuptials Amongst Mars

Once becoming familiar with Garreg Mach Monastery, the Officers Academy and all that stuff, Ivan the Jupiter Adept found himself rather attached to the library. The younger of the Adepts currently present in Fodlan was quite enthralled in all the new literacy to be found in this different-yet-similar world. He didn't frequent any other location, though he did make it a point to at least see what all the other facilities were like. It was just that the library piqued his interest the most.

That was where he'd met and befriended the more studious students and faculty; Linhardt and Hanneman were particular frequents. But as of today, Ivan was about to meet yet another library local. Walking around a corner, his head smacked into another.

"Ow!" a light, female voice reacted in pain.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to walk into you," Ivan apologised to the white-haired girl. He tended to his light bruise just as the stranger was. "I'm very sorry, miss."

"Honestly...how childish do you have to be in order to walk into someone in such a manner?" Lysithea sighed, frowning. "You're lucky I wasn't reading anything. Be more careful next time."

"You're right, I should be more careful," Ivan nodded in agreement. "Again, I'm sorry."

"Stop apologising. You have already conveyed your apologetic intent, so there is no need to try and do so multiple times over," Lysithea paused, as if to properly take a look at the Adept for the first time. "Oh, wait, you must be one of those Adepts. That outfit...it's much more different than anything I've ever seen. You have to be from another world, or another continent at the very least."

"Yes, I'm a Jupiter Adept from Weyard. My name is Ivan."

Lysithea paused once more. "I see...my name is Lysithea von Ordelia. As ironic as this may be, I apologise for my earlier aggression. I also apologise for calling you childish. That was very rude of me."

"Huh? Oh, don't worry. I'm the youngest amongst my friends, so I'm used to being treated like that. They know I'm strong, so really, I'm not worried about that. At all."

"...How old are you, may I ask?"

"Fifteen. Why?"

Yet again, Lysithea paused. But this time, her face was in possession of a widely agape mouth. Ivan raised an eyebrow in confusion. A question mark appeared at the forefront of his mind.

"Miss Lysithea?" he questioned the situation.

"M-my apologies. I had not expected you to be of that age in particular. I am also fifteen years old. That age and my small stature - in comparison to the other students - has placed me at the receiving end of all sorts of patronisation. To see someone in a similar state as me, rather, someone who is smaller yet is the same age as me...it's quite surprising," Lysithea revealed. "You must have very good friends if you're not patronised."

"Yeah...Isaac and the others are very kind to me. They're aware of my power. To tell you the truth, I believe that my Psynergy output is the highest amongst my group of friends...Sheba or Jenna might be better than me at that," Ivan thought about that for a moment. "Regardless, everyone recognises my strength as a Jupiter Adept and they value that strength."

"And they do not treat you kindly simply because you are a...Jupiter Adept?" Lysithea wondered.

Ivan shook his head. "Not at all. We're all very close with one another. Never have I been on the receiving end of any kind of patronisation from them. Well, maybe once...Garet may have said something early on. But nothing else aside from that. Potentially."

"How very intriguing...I do wish everyone here could see me in the same light. But of course, I always have to be treated as if I'm a child," Lysithea sighed. "Thank you for speaking with me, Ivan. Talking to you about this has made my day better."

"You're welcome," Ivan smiled and nodded. "_Should I use Mind Read on her? No, I'd better not…I have no real reason to anyway._"

Both Ivan and Lysithea were about to go their separate ways, when a certain student from the Blue Lions House emerged through the library's doorway and interrupted the pair's departures. Lysithea was most confused - she'd barely seen this person in the library.

"You're Ivan, right? My name is Ingrid Brandl Galatea. Professor Byleth has asked me to round up the students of the Black Eagles as well as the Adepts. He's going out on a mission. I'm joining as well," Ingrid informed the relatively young Adept.

Ivan frowned in mild surprise, then he got an idea. He gathered up some of his Psynergy and began using his trusty Mind Read spell. A psychic connection was made between Ingrid's mind as well as his own. This allowed Ivan to read Ingrid's mind in order to extract the information he needed. Once he was done, he spoke up.

"I understand. I'll meet the professor at the front gate," Ivan walked off. Ingrid and even Lysithea stood there, bewildered as to what the otherworldly warrior just did.

"_I didn't even tell him where to meet the professor...how did he know_?" the blond, wannabe knight thought.

Eventually, she broke out of her temporary stupor to go ahead and look for the remaining Black Eagles students, though she did feel some apprehension about bothering all those people for her sake...she knew Dorothea would force her to do so regardless. Because after all, this mission was all about that marriage proposal.

* * *

About a day later, those of the Officers Academy arrived at a rather high temperature locale. Lava and sizeable clusters of molten rock littered the ground with their unwelcome presence. The students were sweating to the highest order. Even the normally unflappable Hubert was showing how the effects of the hellishly hot environment was damaging his usually well kept appearance. Bernadetta in particular was regretting ever having come here.

On the other side of the equation, the three Adepts were only mildly affected by the heat. They had Magma Rock and Mars Lighthouse to thank for this slight resilience. Despite this, it was still pretty hot. Mia wished she was back in her snowy hometown of Imil right around now.

"The more we look into this guy, the more I see he's a monster and no good for my Ingrid!" Dorothea exclaimed a slightly teasing manner.

"No kidding. There's no way anyone can deny it, what with the evidence we have," the nupital in question nodded in agreement. "I wish we didn't have to take a shortcut through here, but considering those guys that were chasing us, I suppose we didn't have much of a choice. We should always avoid combat wherever possible. At least we're on our way back to the monastery now…"

A wave of relief came over the residents of Garreg Mach. However, it was quickly washed away when a rather demanding and forceful voice boomed across the volcanic area. Everyone gripped their weapons, ready to fight the very enemies that had been chasing them for some time before that point. But instead…

"Hey! Stop that kid!" the voice of a bandit yelled.

"Leave me alone! I didn't do anything!" a recognisable voice exclaimed soon after.

Isaac, Ivan and Mia perked up at that second voice. It was familiar, alright...very familiar. They breathed a sigh of relief, as they'd immediately figured out who it belonged to. A fiery red-haired young man dashed into the area, chased by a massive horde of bandits. The Adepts sighed.

"_Garet...what did you do_?" Isaac wondered to himself. He decided to invoke Fodlan's long ranged conversation capabilities. "Hey, Garet! What's going on?"

"Wait, is that Isaac?! You sure are a sight for sore eyes. I see you've also got Mia and Ivan with you, that's cool," Garet, the Mars Adept, smiled in excitement at meeting his closest friends again. "Think you guys can help me out? These bandits are a lot tougher than you'd think."

"Garet, how exactly did this happen to begin with?" Ivan asked him.

"Huh? You mean with these guys?" Garet motioned to the dozen or so enemies that were slowly approaching him. "Well, let's just say that I…"

"THIS GUY BURNT MY FOOT!" one of the bandits almost roared, startling just about everyone else, even the other bandits. "This little squirt used some fire magic on me and we're gonna get some revenge on him!"

"Wait, that girl...that must be the girl we're supposed to get!" another bandit pointed out. His allies looked over at Ingrid, the aforementioned girl, and nodded. "Hand her over!"

"This is great! We can beat the everloving snot out of this kid and we can fulfill our mission at the same time! Alright boys, let's kill two birds with one stone...or in this case, one axe! Oh, and don't kill the girl, so I guess we're killing one bird with one axe...you guys get the idea!" the first bandit directed the rest of his group.

"Hey, I don't know anything about that girl, but nobody's getting killed or grabbed on my watch!" Garet returned, unsheathing his Muramasa and in the process, temporarily freaking out when he thought he'd forgotten to equip his Cleric's Ring. He hadn't. Thus, he could use the powerful long sword to his heart's content.

He did just that, choosing to engage the bandits ahead of him with that weapon of choice. Isaac looked over to Byleth - who nodded. Seemingly understanding that simple motion, the Adepts zoomed to Garet's northernmost location so they could help deal with those foes. Byleth would lead his students towards the southern part of the region as to help them escape safely.

But then more bandits emerged from what seemed to be out of nowhere. Dorothea practically demanded that Ingrid be kept safe since she was the object of their enemies' desires. Byleth then instructed his students to form a kind of protective circle around the wyvern-mounted warrior in order to comply with Dorothea's wishes; it made sense to do so regardless. Neither of them would let a friend die.

Although numerous, the bandits didn't have much of a chance. Not against the well-trained students and especially not against the Adepts. Now that the four of them were back together, they could get back into their stride for real. They could finally bring back their old yet effective ways of fighting. Now, the people of Fodlan would get a real idea of how those from Weyard fight.

Isaac and Garet took point while Ivan and Mia provided magical support. Their combined efforts proved to be an impenetrable wall - the bandits just couldn't pierce through it. Soon enough, they were all knocked out. Not killed. The Adepts weren't quite ready to fight like those from Fodlan.

Meanwhile, those from Fodlan were having a comfortable enough time in dealing with their share of enemies. Some parts of the ground were immensely scorching, enough so that it even hurt to touch them for long periods of time. Being upon a Wyvern, Ingrid wasn't affected by this. But the incredibly hot parts of molten rock didn't stick around for too long. Linhardt and Dorothea did have to work overtime in the healing department, though.

With all the bandits eliminated in some form of fashion, the students and Adepts (who later joined up with the Black Eagles plus Ingrid after ensuring the bandits could receive reinforcements no longer) could rest easy. Well, first, they had to get out of there. So they did. After running and running and running for what seemed like an eternity, everyone sat down in a local forest, exhausted to their very cores. Linhardt especially.

"That was such a bother...I hope we never have to go there ever again," the bishop-in-training sighed. "I think I'll…"

"Wow, that guy sure dropped out like a light," Garet commented, mostly in surprise. "Anyway, who are these people, Isaac? Do you guys know them?"

Mia nodded. "Yes. These people are from the Officers Academy, which is a part of Garreg Mach Monastery. They've allowed us to be a part of their class."

"At least until we find a way home," Ivan added.

"Huh. So they're good people then. Good to know. I'd have hated it if it turned out you guys were with some villain or whatever…" Garet remarked. "But hey, the whole gang's back together! That's awesome!"

"Yeah...it's nice to finally be reunited," Ivan agreed, smiling through pure joy. "It's taken a few months, but here we are. All we need to do now is find some way back to Weyard. Unfortunately, all of my research has come up fruitless…"

"Is that what you've been doing in the library? I assumed you were just reading up on Fodlan history," Mia revealed. Ivan shrugged. "Well, I've been asking people closer to the church about any religious event that could somehow relate to our situation, but I haven't been able to find out anything that way."

"I haven't heard anything either," Isaac spoke up. "I was hoping to hear some kind of folktale or myth about interworldly travel. It seems our situation is pretty unique."

"Well, yeah. There's been nothing like that happening in Weyard, either. At least from what I know," Garet chipped in.

And then the conversation became something of a stalemate. Nobody had anything to say, their hopes dwindling and their mental states worsening with each increasingly negative thought they had regarding their situation. But the call of a student brought them back to reality.

"Isaac, Mia, Ivan...your other friend...we are about ready to leave," Ferdinand informed them after walking over. "Let us make haste in returning to the monastery. New friend, we can introduce ourselves on the way there."

"Uh, sure," Garet didn't like the cut of this guy's jib. But his friends regarded him with a smile, so he relented his uncertainties.

But there was something to be uncertain about. As the now-one-person-larger-than-before group began lifting their legs to carry themselves away from the area, Alex watched from afar. He grinned. Internally and externally.

"_The four of them have reunited...no matter. I am far stronger than I was before. If it has to be, I shall fight them myself…_" he laughed to himself. "_Of course not. That is exactly what Solon will be doing. I will only be there to snatch the true prize as it reveals itself…_"

He warped away from his position far up in the air, leaving no trace of his presence. The Black Eagles, Ingrid and the Adepts were all none the wiser.

* * *

_**Author Notes: **_**Here he is! You were probably expecting another Omake chapter, weren't you? Well, I decided to switch things up a bit. Y'know, to make it more interesting and such**.

**As an aside, turns out that normal folks can actually see Djinn. Thanks for pointing that out for me, Golden Zero16. That little error from the last chapter has now been rectified. Anyways, I'll see you next time.**


	12. Caddish Caspar - Omake 4

Caspar von Bergliez had just been finishing up his elongated training session for the day. The overly energetic boy practically threw his borrowed Training Gauntlets back onto the shelf they came from (earning ire from other frequent trainees, such as Felix and Leonie). He walked out of the Training Grounds with an unusual, yet expected vigor in his step - it seemed the student found quite some benefit from today's session.

His steps led him to the monastery's main grounds, where he specifically paused so he could think. Gazes were had at his surroundings as he thought of a plan.

"Hmm…" Caspar thought out loud. "I'm pretty beat. Guess I'll go grab some food and then...I dunno. I'll think of something eventually!"

Although his outwardly thoughts gained him nothing but stares of perplexity, the turquoise-haired noble failed to notice any of them. All he was concerned about was getting food and then doing whatever else he'd come up with after obtaining said food. Maybe he'd go to the sauna, or perhaps see if Linhardt was busy…

"Hey, you!"

"Huh?" Caspar snapped out of his now-inwardly thoughts upon hearing the unknown exclamation.

One of the Adepts, Garet, approached Caspar with a stern look of sterness. Caspar, however, wasn't fazed by this at all. He returned Garet's failed intimidatory stare with one of his own. A silent war of looking quickly emerged...it quickly ended.

"So, uh, what do you want?" Caspar asked the Mars Adept.

"I've heard from the others that you're supposed to be a 'hothead', or whatever. Y'know, I'm a Mars Adept. That means I use fire. I'M the hothead," Garet explained the…'situation'. "Do you understand? There can't be two hotheads."

"Whoa, hang on there. Are you saying you want to kill me?! Because if you do, I'll fight you to my very last breath!" was Caspar's response.

"Uh, no. I don't want to kill you, no way. I just want to fight you to prove who is the best hothead of them all!" Garet pointed to the sky, as if to prove a point...that was barely even there to begin with.

"So just a regular fight then? Well, alright! It doesn't matter that I've just been training all day. It'll all be worth it when I take you down!" Caspar grinned in excitement. "It doesn't matter if you've got that invisible magic or whatever. I'll punch right through it! After all, ghosts are invisible too. You can't punch ghosts, so I'll punch through your magic and hit you in the face! Mages can never take too many hits."

"That's not how Psynergy works...not at all. I don't even understand it all that well, but I know that's just wrong," Garet sighed. "Don't worry, I'll show you what my Mars Psynergy is all about!"

"Ooh, Mars Psynergy…" Caspar mocked. "I am literally shaking in my boots. What doesn't exist can't hurt you!"

Garet narrowed his eyes.

"You...what? Did you really just say that Psynergy doesn't exist?"

"If it's real, then how come I've never seen it? I think it's all a big lie or some kind of trick. Until I see it, I won't believe it," Caspar responded with confidence. Garet facepalmed.

"I can't show it to you though, that's the thing. Only Adepts like me, Isaac and the others can see it."

"So you're saying that if I became an Adept, I'd be able to see this Psynergy thing?"

"Yeah," Garet nodded. "But that'll probably never happen, unless Psynergy Stones somehow arrived in this world...I sure hope that doesn't happen. That'll open a whole can of worms I don't even wanna think about…"

"Elemental Psynergy, Psynergy Stones...man, this is sounding a whole lot like some kinda generic fantasy story," Caspar remarked. "Not that I read stories. Anyway, it's not helping your case. Still sounding like an elaborate lie."

"Well, there's nothing I can do to change your mind...other than to use it on you! How 'bout that fight, then?" Garet smiled through a surge of excitement.

"You're on!"

And so, Caspar led Garet back to the Training Grounds, where their fierce fight took place. Caspar was initially going to choose the forest for their round of training, but Garet raised concerns about causing a massive fire. Suspicious, Caspar tried to convince Garet to head to the forest anyway, though the Adept was able to convince the Black Eagle House student otherwise.

Thusly, their fiery fight began. An invisible, blazing friendship of burning emotion was formed between the two.

* * *

_**Author Notes: **_**Back with another Omake chapter! This is one of those interactions that made me want to do this fic in the first place. I knew Garet and Caspar would be great together - I sure hope I made their relationship convincing here.**

**Anyways, see you next time as usual.**

**I like the fourth wall breaks here.**


	13. Solitary Sothis - Omake 5

Byleth, ever the busy and perhaps maybe overworked teacher, had a mission. Although his job practically required him to be busy at all times, there was a specific reason for his current bout of determination. It was all because of Sothis. Her speculative ramblings brought her to a certain conclusion regarding these 'Adepts' as they called themselves. She wished she could speak to them herself, but alas, she could not. That's when she heard of a certain Psynergy spell that one of the Adepts possessed.

Thusly, Byleth found himself marching around the monastery, looking for the wielder of that spell. Sothis demanded it. The enigmatic midget was especially forceful because she was relatively close to uncovering something massive. However, she couldn't explain whatever it was she was talking about. It seemed her thoughts needed more time to stir.

Upon turning a corner and stepping inside the mildly relaxing innards of Garreg Mach's library, the professor almost immediately found his target: Ivan. He was reading a book he pulled off a shelf regarding some of Fodlan's mythologies. The approach of the quiet ex-mercenary caught him off guard.

"Oh! Professor Byleth, nice to see you," Ivan jumped in his seat. He placed his book down, pages up. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"I…" Byleth checked his surroundings. Not many people were in the library today - good. "I understand that you have an ability called Mind Read. Could you use it on me, please?"

"You want me to use Mind Read on you? Why?" Ivan asked, gaining suspicion.

Byleth was either hesitant, or thinking of a reply. Or probably both. "I'm curious."

"Hmm…" It was Ivan's turn to retreat to his mind. "I don't see why not...as long as you don't mind me reading your thoughts. Uh, sorry for the pun. I know that's Alois' thing."

"It's fine. I do not 'mind'," Byleth smiled.

Ivan took a breath. "Well then, here it goes…"

The Jupiter Adept held out his hand and initiated his Mind Read Psynergy, drawing upon his mental power and connection to the element of wind to reach Byleth's mind. Once the linkage was formed, the user of Psynergy was met with quite the surprise.

"_It appears that my hypothesis was correct_," Sothis stated from the now-breached sanctity of Byleth's mind. "_Hello, Adept. I am happy to finally be able to speak with one of you._"

"_What…? A split personality? No, not quite...what is this?_" Ivan wondered, unaware of what exactly he'd found.

"_Excuse me!_" Sothis practically yelled. Ivan could only hear the girl's voice, up until now, where she'd willed herself into Ivan's mental view. "_It is rude to not answer when someone is asking a question of you! Tell me, Adept, what is your name?_"

"_But don't you already know my name, Byleth? Are you someone else entirely?_" Ivan responded.

"_Indeed I am. I am known as the Beginning, but you may call me Sothis. I cannot believe that you have somehow turned my question around on me. Now who are you? All I know about you is that you are an Adept and you possess a mind reading power._"

"_My name is Ivan. I'm a Jupiter Adept. That means I have access to the Mind Read Psynergy spell, though I'm not sure if every Jupiter Adept can learn it. I haven't gone out of my way to test that. Regardless, who are you exactly? Why are you inside of Byleth's mind? And...what is this strange familiarity I feel?_"

"_How strange. I feel the same way you do, Ivan. There is something about you that reminds me of something else. Unfortunately, most of my memories are shrouded in a haze of mystery. I cannot remember precisely who I am. I have been travelling with, or, inside of Byleth to figure these things out. I feel as if I am learning more and more about myself with each passing day._"

"_Isn't that the same for everyone? We're all evolving in some form or fashion every day. Some would argue we're changing as the seconds pass._"

"_An interesting proposal. Perhaps that is the case. In actuality, that may very well be true. It seems that the more I talk to you, the more I feel some form of a bond with you and your kind. This talk of Psynergy and Adepts...I feel as if I have heard these terms somewhere before. Perhaps if I were to speak with you some more, I may find out the truth._"

"_It's possible you might have heard those words in passing. It's not like they're completely brand new terms or anything. But considering the emphasis you're placing on them, I can't suspect that's the case. Whatever it is, I'll be sure to help you out with whatever you need, Sothis. I'm very interested in hearing what your truth might be._"

"_I thank you, Ivan. May we speak again. I'll ask Byleth to seek you out whenever I wish to talk with you once more_," Sothis nodded, indicating the end of the conversation.

Ivan deactivated his Mind Read, returning himself to the physical world. His mind was now buzzed with new information. New and _exciting _information. He hoped his next conversation with that fascinating Sothis would come to pass very soon. Maybe she would have uncovered the truth by then...the very thought of it intrigued Ivan to no end.

This was far more interesting than that mythology book he'd been reading.

* * *

_**Author Notes: **_**This was by far, my most favourite Omake to write. Heck, it was probably my favourite chapter to write out of the entirety of this fic so far. All of these mysteries will be answered eventually.**

**As a little aside, Pokemon Sword and Shield came out recently. Most of my attention has been on that recently. Combine that with an increase in university workload, I haven't been able to write this as much as I've wanted to these past few weeks. Sorry for that.**

**But hey, there aren't many chapters to go until the end. With that in mind, lemme know if you guys wanna see a continuation of this. I've some ideas for such a thing...I won't do them if nobody wants this to carry on past the next few chapters. So lemme know! Cheerio, folks!**


	14. Under the Guardian Moon

Another regular, mayhaps considered mundane, week passed at Garreg Mach Monastery. The students of the Officers Academy all had their lessons which consisted of differing subjects, delicious meals were pumped out at the Dining Hall and the Training Grounds saw frequent usage. Garreg Mach was as active as it'd ever been.

On that week's end (a 'weekend', if you will), the Mercury Adept Mia was paying a visit to the Cathedral. Of course, she'd been visiting the monastery's other facilities relatively frequently, but it was the Cathedral she found herself most drawn to. Not even the recently opened Sauna caught her interest as much as the historical place of worship.

Upon entering said place, Mia took to one of the many pews that lined the Cathedral's bottommost part. She found them rather comfortable. Actually, this whole building was incredibly relaxing. It reminded her much of the Sanctums from Weyard. She and her fellow Adepts were quite disappointed when they realised they wouldn't be getting any healing done here in the Cathedral. Nevertheless, the Cathedral still exuded an air of relaxedness.

"Oh! You must be Mia, is that right?" the calming voice of Mercedes would've sent Mia into a slumber had it not been so sudden.

"Y-yes! I'm Mia...that's me. Sorry, uh, who are you?" Mia asked, pulling herself back into reality.

"I am Mercedes von Martritz. I'm a student of the Blue Lions House. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mia," the nobility-born student introduced herself with a small bow. "Have you come to pray?"

"No, I haven't...I've come here to relax," Mia revealed. A feeling of embarrassment shot straight through her. "This Cathedral...it feels so nice. It's not comfortable in the same way a home is, but it's still very cozy all the same."

"I agree," Mercedes nodded. "I come here every morning to pray. That is, when I am not away on a mission. When I do come here, the moment I step inside, I feel completely at ease. As if all my worries disappear entirely. I take it you are not a religious person?"

"I'm not, sorry…"

Mia hung her head in shame, but Mercedes' unexpected positive response brought the Adept's head right back up to where it was.

"That's okay. Not everyone has a god or goddess they can pick and pray to. A mental commitment like that should not be forced upon another, so I won't look down on you for not having a mindset like mine. In fact, there are plenty of people at the monastery who aren't religious. You certainly aren't alone in your thinking."

"R-really? Wow...this place really is diverse," Mia commented, internally breathing relief. "I suppose the closest thing to a religious mindset I have is that many people in my hometown called me 'Angel'. That was because of my Psynergy."

"Angel...I assume they chose that name because you used your power to help out others, much like an angel?" Mercedes paused for a moment upon hearing the world 'angel' - her mind had wandered.

"Yes. Being a Mercury Adept, my skills are generally focused on healing and protecting. That's not to say I don't have any offensive potential...it's just not my specialty. I guess it's very much like your Priests and Bishops," Mia explained. "I used Ply, a powerful healing Psynergy, to quell the illnesses and injuries of the people of Imil - my hometown. My doing so earned me the nickname Angel."

"I see. That is rather fascinating. I am almost envious. To be regarded as a divine being for the simple act of helping others...it is not unexpected, but...I would like to be the same," Mercedes disclosed.

"You want to be like me?" Mia was understandably confused.

"I do. My lifelong dream is to help others, however and whenever I can. If I can be called Angel, then it might mean my dream has been fulfilled."

"I hope that happens to you someday, Mercedes."

Mia and Mercedes shared a smile. A small silence appeared between the two, but it was not one of awkwardness. It was of understanding. The two girls understood each other

"If I may…" the latter of the two broke the silence.

"What is it?" the former asked.

Another short silence. "Would you like to be friends with me?"

"Of course. I would love nothing more."

Thusly, the pair of girls became good friends. Mercedes stuck to her word and did not force her religion upon Mia, but she did insist that the two perform certain activities together. Sharing a perfect cup of tea, relaxing in the Sauna and even studying together. Anything that allowed the new friendship to blossom.

* * *

While those two girls were hitting it off with one another, some rather noisy happening was going down elsewhere in the monastery. An Adept and three students were the cause of it all. Their yells of absolute joy permeated throughout the area beside Garreg Mach's pond and Dining Hall. Shields clattered and rang obtusely against the hard rocky ground. Innocent bystanders gave them weird looks as they kept repeating their actions.

Caspar was the main instigator for such a loud activity. He'd easily managed to convince his friends Raphael and Garet to join in on the fun - he even roped in some random student. The four of them were sliding down the staircase that rested in front of the Dining Hall by the use of shields Caspar procured from some other place.

"Oh yeah! This is great!" the Black Eagles boy exclaimed as he slid down the staircase for the fourth time in a row. "Are you guys having fun?"

"I sure am! Man, this is incredible! Almost as fun as weight lifting or training, or even eating! Uh, actually, forget that last one," Raphael responded. "Nothing beats a good meal!"

"You sure are wise, Raphael. I don't think anyone can resist a nice dinner," Garet nodded in agreement. "Why don't we all get something to eat when we're done here? Assuming the Dining Hall doesn't close or something."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Garet. The Dining Hall never closes, but the staff members running the place leave after a certain time. So if we wanna have something good to eat, we'd better get in there before it gets too dark," Raphael reassured the fire user.

"I have it all under control, you guys. We'll do this a couple more times and then we'll go feast on everything they've got in the pantry! You in with us, Corona?" Caspar turned to the third student.

"I'm...fine," the girl, Corona replied. "I have to go now anyway."

"Really, so soon? That's a shame. But I guess that's the price you have to pay for being a temporary student here…" Caspar sighed, shaking his head. "See you later."

Garet and Raphael also gave their goodbyes to the female student. They all remarked that she looked rather like Byleth. Perhaps they were siblings. But they shook such an idea off and noted her visual similarities to their professor as a coincidence.

Right after Corona departed, the three went back to shield sliding. Well, they would've, had a certain individual not turned around the corner at that very moment. A very well known blonde prince saw the three boys and frowned.

"So it was you three who were the perpetrators of that terrible noise," Dimitri, the House Leader of the Blue Lions, stated upon approaching them. The trio froze in place. "I will have to ask you to stop this madness at once. It is causing a great disturbance for those of us looking for peace. Please, halt your activity."

"Oh, alright...looks like we're not allowed to have any fun," Caspar frowned back. "Let's go, you two. Maybe we'll get lectured by Edelgard next or something…"

The three boys, with disappointed looks on their faces, retreated into the Dining Hall, likely to do precisely as they'd already planned. Though, they'd forgotten they were still holding onto certain things.

"What else do they plan to do with those shields…?" Dimitri wondered aloud.

* * *

Elsewhere within the calming confines of the monastery, Ivan had a very specific thing to do. After having another chat with Sothis thanks to Mind Read, Byleth proposed the idea of using the mental-based Psynergy on some other people within the monastery grounds. Particularly on those who dealt with some kind of negative issue that greatly worsened their minds.

Bernadetta was the first one to come to mind for the ex-Ashen Demon. She was infamous for her reclusive nature and lack of social skills. There was definitely a mental problem at play with the violet. Byleth already knew about why she was a recluse. Mayhaps, Ivan's Mind Read ability would prove useful in finding out more about her ailment. If, however, that ability could read that deep into a person's psyche.

Ivan did not know. He never had to do such a thing before. Though the Jupiter Adept did want to at least try. Reality was brought back to him as he heard the obnoxiously loud screams coming from the four shield surfers.

"_Right. I need to focus. I just need to find Bernadetta, which shouldn't be too hard if Byleth is correct. Then I need to cast Mind Read on her, figure out what it is that made her a recluse and from there, I - or Byleth - can think of a way to ease whatever that problem is. Shouldn't be too hard. I'll have to get close to her in order to actually use Mind Read, though…_" Ivan's thoughts directed themselves onto the task at hand.

He approached the door Byleth told him belonged to Bernadetta. All of the dormitories' doors looked the same as one another, so Ivan wondered how Byleth could even memorise which ones belonged to whom. Shaking that aside, Ivan knocked on the door. A startled yelp sounded on the other side.

"Um, Bernie's not here!" Bernadetta obviously lied. "Damn! Uh, I mean, who is it?"

"It's me, Ivan. Can I talk to you for a moment?" the Adept in question requested.

"S-sure. You can speak through doors, right? You otherworld guys have some crazy powers so I'm sure you can do something like that," Bernie assumed. "I hope."

Ivan grit his teeth. "_Not good. I can't use Mind Read through doors or walls or anything...I need to talk to her face to face. And I have a feeling that might be difficult to make happen._"

"Are you still there? Can I get back to my, uh, thing that I was doing? Y'know, the thing," Bernie almost pleaded.

"Sorry, I was thinking," Ivan apologised. "Could I speak to you face to face? This is kind of important."

"No! N-nope, not happening. I'm...busy. Yeah, I'm busy with an assignment. Do you mind waiting until later? Please?"

Ivan instinctively shook his head, despite there being a door in the way. "This won't take very long, I promise. Please, just open the door. I'm not asking you to come outside. I just want a face to face conversation. That's all."

"No way. You probably want to steal my face or something. Or maybe you want to kill me! No, worse…" Bernie paused, seemingly for dramatic effect. "You want to steal my cake that I am not eating! How dare you! You're the worst kind of evil! I will never let you in, you villain!"

"W-wha…?"

Ivan was too dumbfounded to retort in any kind of fashion. He couldn't fathom how a girl like Bernadetta could go from terrified to accusatory in a manner of seconds like that. And didn't she have an assignment?

He shook his head once more, again to no avail. "_She seems stern. Well, from the sound of her voice at the moment anyway. I don't think I'll be able to get her out by just asking her...Plan B it is._"

"Eek!" Bernadetta yelped again as another knock on her door came. "Who is it now?! Why won't you people leave Bernie alone?"

"It's still me, Ivan. Look, Bernadetta, your professor is here and he wants to speak with you. Something about a cookie?" Ivan lied.

"Professor? Cookie?! Oh, alright. I'll come out, then."

At last, the door opened. It opened slowly, but it was what Ivan wanted nonetheless. Noticing a rather distinct lack of Byleth, Bernadetta's eyes widened and even her pupils seemed to dilate.

"Where's the Professor?! Did he leave? Did he not want to wait for me?!" she exclaimed. "Oh no…"

"_Now's my chance!_"

Ivan immediately began casting Mind Read on Bernie. He immediately regretted it. Passing through the depths of her psyche, he happened upon disturbing memories and an overwhelming sense of fear for one man in particular. Her father: Count Varley. Skimming past these thoughts, Ivan quickly summarised that Count Varley was an awful example of a human being. Tying his daughter to a chair, forcing her to be as submissive as possible and performing all sorts of horrible tests upon her…

He pulled himself out of Bernadetta's mind before it could get any worse. He hadn't prepared himself for such inhumane sights.

"Bernadetta…" Ivan eventually spoke aloud. "I'm sorry."

"Huh? What are you talking about? Is this about the Professor?"

Ivan shook his head for a third time. "No. I'm...I'm sorry. I promise you. I won't let anything bad happen to you ever again. And I'm absolutely certain that everyone else at the monastery feels the same way. You now have people that love you. Cherish them, Bernadetta."

"What?" Bernie asked. "Well, if Professor Byleth isn't here, then I'll have to get back to work! On the thing. Yeah, I'll go do that."

She practically slammed the door shut. It returned to its natural state of being locked, surprising Ivan with precisely how fast she did it. Her skills as an archer weren't wasted, that's for sure. With his mission only partially achieved, Ivan decided to leave it for now. Thus he left the area.

In doing so, he wasn't aware of the tears that were coming from Bernie's eyes.

* * *

Even though all of these three occurrences happened at the same time, there was yet another. Precisely when Mia met Mercedes as well as when Garet, Caspar and Raphael shared a shield sliding session, which was also when Ivan invaded Bernadetta's mind - Isaac had something of his own to do.

The Venus Adept was found by Seteth. Apparently, Lady Rhea requested Isaac's presence specifically. Feeling a mix of curiosity along with confusion, the young man in question just had to find out what the Archbishop wanted. Seteth led him to the Audience Chamber. He'd been there before, particularly when he first arrived at the monastery not too long ago. But coming in here gave him a subtle sense of relaxedness much alike the Cathedral. Isaac figured that was to do with all the spirituality the two places had.

Walking into the chamber at pace with Seteth, Isaac was met with the regal figure of Lady Rhea.

"Ah, there you are, Isaac. Thank you for fetching him for me, Seteth. You are excused," the Archbishop of the Church of Seiros thanked her aide.

"It was of no issue, Lady Rhea. I will be taking my leave," Seteth bowed in courtesy, then left, leaving the Adept and Archbishop to speak in peace.

The woman in question smiled. Such a calming action only served to heighten how comfortable Isaac felt here. He almost felt as if he could fall asleep. Of course, that wouldn't be wise, considering the company he was in. Speaking of that company…

"H-hello, Lady Rhea," Isaac mimicked Seteth's earlier bow. "Thank you for…"

"Please calm yourself. You do not need to act so formally in my presence, though I would advise you not to be too familiar with me. Just be yourself," Rhea advised, her smile retained.

Isaac nodded. "I...understand. Sorry, Lady Rhea, I just feel the need to respect those who have a position of power like you do. Maybe I place too much respect in those kinds of people, now that I think of it."

"It is fine. Do not worry yourself about it. The way you are speaking now is perfect," Rhea reassured him. "Let us get back to the topic at hand. Isaac, from what I have read in Byleth's reports, there have been multiple appearances of a blue-haired Adept throughout the Black Eagles' excursions. You know who he is, do you not?"

"Yes. I assume you want me to tell you about him?" Isaac asked.

Rhea nodded. Isaac took a small breath and began to plan out his explanation of the most enigmatic person he'd ever met. Save for The Wise One. Perhaps even Byleth. Regardless, an explanation was required. He had to deliver.

"His name is Alex. He's a Mercury Adept, like Mia, which means he can use water-based Psynergy. I...don't actually know too much about him as a person. Mia knew him from when he lived with her in their home village of Imil. I think he was an apprentice to her father?" Isaac recounted from things he learnt from Mia. "When he started appearing in our adventures, he sided with two Mars Adepts named Saturos and Menardi, then later Karst and Agatio. We fought them off, but Alex never fought us himself. He always used other people to do his dirty work and always ran away whenever we were almost going to fight him. He's a very slippery person."

"I see," Rhea seemed to take this information in relatively well. "He is a puppeteer, it seems. The kind of individual that slithers in the shadows rather than basking in the glory of the light. I can only hope he is not working with _them_."

"You mean Those Who Slither in the Dark? I heard about them from Byleth and Edelgard. They seem like terrible people."

"Yes. Those Who Slither in the Dark are indeed the lowest forms of humanity. They perform inhumane experiments on innocent villagers, kidnap our loved ones and implant spies amongst our ranks. I do not know what their goals are, nor am I familiar with this Alex. However, regarding what I do know as well as what you have told me, I can only assume that a joint effort from those two forces could lead to total chaos if left unchecked. Promise me that you will do anything to prevent such a thing from happening."

Isaac nodded. "Of course. I won't let Alex get away with what he wants. He almost did back in our world, but we stopped him. We'll stop him again. I promise you, Lady Rhea."

"Thank you, Isaac," Rhea smiled again. "You are dismissed. Should you have any concerns or fears, do not hesitate to talk to me. I am here most of the time."

"Understood. You're welcome."

Satisfied with their chat, Isaac turned around to leave. He made his way to the Audience Chamber's doors and began to push them open. But then Rhea had something else to say.

"Oh, Isaac. I have just remembered something," the Archbishop suddenly said.

"?" the Venus Adept turned around, an eyebrow raised.

"Your kind. Adepts, I believe you call them. I have heard of them before."

Isaac couldn't think of anything else for the rest of that day.

* * *

_**Author Notes: **_**Sorry this one took so long, folks! About two weeks ago, I had a really busy weekend, so I barely had any time to write. And when I did, I was too tired to do so. So I decided to put it off until the week after, but then Smash Ultimate decided to have an event that made getting everything in that game easier after I'd already confirmed for myself that I wanted to get 100%, thus most of my attention was focused on that.**

**That leads us to today. Again, sorry for the delay, but I hoped you enjoyed this chapter regardless. It was an interesting one to write, kind of going for a '22 Short Films About Springfield' styled approach with multiple shorter stories happening at once.**

**I should probably mention that Corona is an edited version of my friend's Three Houses OC. Just thought I'd do something nice for her and give her character a small cameo.**

**This is also the penultimate chapter! Next time will be the finale. Do let me know if you people wanna see a continuation of this. I will be more than happy to oblige.**

**Anyways, see you next time.**


	15. Where the End Dwells

Ever since the mission at the abandoned part of the monastery grounds last month, Byleth hadn't quite felt the same as usual. To know there were people who explicitly wanted his father dead, it hurt him. That hurt fed into his desire for revenge. He knew these people needed to be eliminated before they could try such a thing again - on anyone.

But he didn't know where they were. There was no way he could go and get that revenge. As he walked around the monastery in an aimless manner, potential ideas of how to look for them swirled through his mind. Perhaps the Knights of Seiros could take up the task, or he could do it himself. Maybe even his father.

Who, incidentally enough, he just figuratively ran into as he was partway through the Entrance Hall.

"Hey there, kiddo. You up to anything special at the moment?" Jeralt asked his son. Byleth shook his head. "No? Well, that's good. Because I've got some information you might want to hear."

"What's that?" Byleth wondered, now curious.

"You know those people who tried to take me out? I know where they're hiding," the Blade Breaker revealed. "Rhea had the knights perform searches for them in secret. I say secret, but I pretty much figured it out immediately. I think the others were scared I'd beat them up if they didn't tell me."

"Where are they?" Byleth almost spat out, seething in an emotion he could only call rage. At least, it felt like how he thought anger was supposed to be. He certainly wanted to know what his father knew.

"In the Sealed Forest. It's on the edge of monastery grounds. They were hiding right underneath our noses…" Jeralt shook his head, then smirked. "That just makes it easier for us. We won't have to walk for very long, so I say we make that short trip now. Let's give them a piece of our minds."

Just then, someone else walked in. A determined look was on her face. It seemed she had something important to say. Such a thing was soon revealed.

"Professor! I know where the enemy is," Edelgard was about to disclose, but quickly realised Jeralt's presence. "Ah, Sir Eisner. I apologise. I didn't see you."

"No problem. Also, I already told your Professor, so you can save your breath," Jeralt responded, turning to face the princess. "Did you come here to convince us out of going?"

"No. In fact, I believe we should strike immediately. We know where they are. It would be the most strategic move we can make," Edelgard discussed.

"I will not allow it."

Right out of nowhere, Lady Rhea, along with Seteth and a knight, entered the scene. Rhea's expression was a rather stern one. That, combined with her tone of voice, truly conveyed her unwavering mindset.

"Rhea. Seteth," Jeralt noted their presence. "I respect your authority, but don't bother saying whatever it is you want to say. We're going. We'll kill those slippery bastards and get back before dinner. Nothing else will happen."

"Surely you must be aware that this may be a trap for you two," Seteth proposed the idea. "We are at a time where the knights are at their busiest. You should know that, Jeralt. This can only be a trap specifically designed for you and your son. With that in mind, we cannot possibly allow you to spring it."

"Indeed. Do not act carelessly, you two. Losing either of you would be a great loss for us all," Rhea added.

"Lady Rhea, our Professor and Sir Eisner are not acting out of revenge. All they wish to do is to simply rid the monastery of a dangerous foe. Do not forget that we have the Adepts on our side. With their immense, otherworldly strength, we cannot possibly lose. That is not to belittle our own power," Edelgard interjected. "You cannot possibly leave the monastery unattended. Thus, we are the most effective force you can send out. We have to act now!"

"Byleth...do you agree with this strategy?" Rhea asked the man in question, who simply nodded. She paused for a moment, as if letting go of something in her mind. "Understood. I shall give you the order. Eliminate the enemy that rests in the Sealed Forest and come back safely. The goddess watches over you."

Sothis smirked.

"Let us go, my Professor. Sir Eisner. We must make haste if we are to dispatch of these enemies efficiently," Edelgard stated.

"Of course. You two go gather your students and those Adepts. I'll get our supplies," Jeralt continued.

The three of them nodded, an understanding of their task shared between them through an invisible mental link. Every foe that slithered inside the darkness of the Sealed Forest HAD to be eviscerated. No matter what.

* * *

All of the Adepts as well as the students were quickly collected. Not long after, the reasonably sized group arrived at the edge of the Sealed Forest, the very place where their enemies were supposed to be hiding. It was definitely a forest, though it wasn't quite as lightly coloured as the ones the Adepts were used to back in Weyard. Even still, it didn't seem like the sort of place villains would collate themselves at. It truly seemed like an ordinary forest.

But that certainly wasn't the case. While on the outside it appeared normal, the darkness that lurked within was strong. Even those who weren't very intune with magic could sense something off with this place. Those who were intune with magic…

"We have arrived in the Sealed Forest," Hubert confirmed for his group. "We must not let our guard down. Especially in a place as vile as this."

"Is it really that bad?" Bernadetta wondered, her nerves kicking in.

"Unfortunately, Hubie's assessment is right. The magical energy I'm feeling...it's horrible. It almost makes me want to run away," Dorothea admitted.

"If we did that, we would be able to rest easy. And while I do appreciate that prospect, that would be counterproductive to our mission," Linhardt commented. "We have been tasked to dispose of our enemies. The ones that tried to kill our Professor and his father. We cannot back down from that."

"Wow. Hearing that from you, Linhardt...it makes me feel better. Professor! Jeralt! We'll defeat those enemies no matter what!" Bernie exclaimed, confidence surging through her.

"Yeah, that is pretty surprising to hear from him. What's next, flying pigs?" Caspar joked.

"Calm down you kids. Our enemies could be near," Jeralt instructed them. He turned to Isaac, who'd been standing to the side of the group of students with his fellow Adepts. "Hey, uh, blonde kid? You can sense where people are, right?"

Isaac nodded. "Through the power of my Venus Psynergy, I can. Only vaguely, though."

"You think you could scope out the area? It'll give us a good idea of what to expect," Jeralt suggested.

"Sure," Isaac began to do just that. He used his innate abilities as a Venus Adept to 'feel' the ground's life force as well as seeing in his mind's eye the location of their upcoming foes. The results didn't surprise him. "There are a few soldiers up ahead. Some Demonic Beasts too."

"Those things? They sure like pulling them out recently," Garet remarked. "It doesn't matter. We'll give it everything we've got!"

"Yes, we shall! Let us defeat those who wish to inflict pain on our beloved Professor. The very same Professor who saved my life!" Flayn was there too.

"..." Byleth remained silent.

Even if something stirred in his unnatural heart. Some kind of emotion, the same one he'd been feeling constantly ever since taking on the job as professor. It only heightened when the four Adepts gave him a confident smile. Isaac approached him.

"Be careful, Byleth. Something about this feels...climactic. Like they're gonna be pulling out all the stops to get rid of us," the Venus Adept warned the Professor. "It's possible they might have some kind of trap ready to spring on us. I'll stay by you so you're safe."

"Right. Thank you, Isaac," Byleth thanked his friend. "And thank you everyone. Let's...let's win."

Everyone giggled lightly upon hearing Byleth's odd, albeit fitting word choice. Regardless of the specific words he used, it was enough to encourage his allies. His friends. With their motivation levels maxed out, they quickly drafted a plan of attack that took into consideration the things that Isaac reported. Before long, they marched into the bottom right side of the clearing; their arena.

Just as Isaac said, there was a moderate amount of enemies. A Demonic Beast towards their left, supported by several swordsmen, mages and archers. The same towards the north. Each of those paths seemed to lead to the same area, where vague sights of stone could be seen. Nothing else was visible to the regular eye. Isaac could tell that someone powerful was standing roughy where the stone stuff was. He couldn't tell who, but it felt familiar.

"Hello! You're here! Welcome to the forest of death!" Monica's sweet sounding yet devilish voice soon drifted off into some kind of insane laughter. "My name is Kronya. This weakling girl was just a borrowed look for me."

In an instant, her entire appearance changed, though nobody could actually see it, despite her voice somehow carrying halfway across the battlefield.

"This is what I really look like!" Kronya exclaimed in a nearly excited manner. "Now, you vermin. I'll take down every last one of you!"

"We can't even see her…" Garet sighed.

"Enough talk. It is time for our battle to begin. Time to cast a blinding light on Those Who Slither in the Dark!" Edelgard temporarily took a commandatory position.

With that, the Black Eagles, Jeralt as well as the Adepts, all charged into battle. Half of the forces, led by Jeralt and Edelgard, took care of the western side of foes. The other half, led by Byleth and Isaac, took care of their northernmost opponents. Garet and Ivan went with Edelgard's team while Mia stayed with Isaac. The students were then divided up equally into those two sides.

And those sides immediately started slicing through their enemies. Numerous as they were, they could not stop the combined might of the Adepts and Officers Academy students. Even if things were to seem dangerous for an individual, someone else would jump in to save them. Byleth didn't even need to resort to using a Divine Pulse.

He noticed that had been the case ever since Isaac arrived. The Divine Pulse really wasn't needed while the Adepts were around. Perhaps that was also in part due to his students generally improving their combat skills, thus they didn't require literal divine intervention as much as before, but it did surprise the ex-mercenary how much of a help the Adepts were. Not that he was complaining. As long as his students were safe, he didn't care for circumstances.

A well placed arrow from Bernadetta, a cast of Pyroclasm from Garet, one of Caspar's well placed punches, Ivan's Spark Plasma...all sorts of attacks were thrown across the place. From both sides. The two Demonic Beasts were throwing around boulders and gigantic claw swipes all over. But the students and Adepts were well used to dealing with this kind of thing at this point. Needless to say, the beasts along with the other enemies were downed in due time.

Everyone converged on Kronya's position. Jeralt was allowed to be first.

"Oh, it's _you_," the devilish girl spat. "Just a rusty old man that doesn't know his place. How about you stay perfectly still and let me finish what I started?"

"I don't give a damn about what you want, 'girl'. I'll kill you before you even get a chance to think about what else you might want," Jerat spat back. "I'll not only break your blade...I'll break your entire body! Get ready!"

Jeralt jumped off his horse, using the momentum from his leap to increase the power of his stab. Kronya evaded. She returned the favour with a running stab from her own lance, but the Blade Breaker easily knocked the weapon out of her hands with a single swing of his lance. He held the tip to Kronya's throat.

"I won't give you the pleasure of last words," he coldly spoke.

Readying a final stab, Jeralt rammed his lance through Kronya's throat. At least, he tried to. A stay ball of dark magic came flying at him, causing him to jump back to dodge. Kronya used this time to leap back and equip her dagger. The exact same dagger she used to try and kill Jeralt earlier.

"Solon!" she almost seemed pleased to see her comrade. "Don't just stand there! Help!"

"Yes...you certainly do need my help," Solon grinned in a very menacing way.

He slowly walked over to Kronya, his palm out. What happened next surprised and disgusted everyone that saw it. Solon reached through Kronya's lightly armoured body, causing her a great deal of pain. This somehow resulted in the four pillars surrounding the stone platform they were on to become enveloped in darkness. Some of the students retreated off the platform upon seeing this. Jeralt, Byleth and Isaac stood their ground.

While this was happening, Solon continued to reach through Kronya's body. The darkness intensified. Aware of the obvious danger, Isaac immediately used his Lift Psynergy to launch Jeralt away from the platform, leaving only himself and Byleth. Although he intended to do the same to Byleth as well as himself, some dark tendrils lashed out and grabbed onto his limbs, restricting his movements. Same with Byleth.

"Solon…! Stop this!" Kronya pleaded, her life ebbing away.

Her 'comrade' ignored this plea for help. Solon's hand found its target. It suddenly pulled back, revealing Kronya's heart in its grasp. The girl in question dropped to the floor and asked for help, but it was too late. She was dead.

"It is time to unleash the Forbidden Spell of Zahras!" Solon declared.

A massive torrent of darkness enveloped Byleth and Isaac. After all the darkness dissipated, nothing was left. Byleth and Isaac were gone. Kronya's lifeless body and Solon's very much lifeful one remained. The others seethed in rage. Rage mixed with bewilderment.

"What kind of magic was that? What happened to Professor Byleth?" Edelgard wondered.

"And Isaac, too! Where'd they go, you veiny freak?!" Garet demanded to know.

"Wouldn't you like to know…" a new voice sounded from nowhere.

Someone new entered the scene. A certain Mercury Adept teleported into place, standing beside Solon with a grin of contentment plastered onto his face.

"Alex!" Mia yelled as she recognised him.

"So you are working with the likes of Solon," Edelgard frowned. "How despicable."

"Your words mean nothing to me, princess. I simply work with those who I find to be beneficial. Solon's weapon is certainly going to help me," Alex responded. "Your dear professor and Isaac have been trapped in a realm of darkness thanks to that weapon."

"Indeed. They are both destined to wander the darkness for all eternity. To think that we could have had the Sword of the Creator...we may have even been able to take that Adept's blade for our own use as well," Solon lamented.

Everyone's confusion was now replaced with total anger.

"You're lying! Isaac would never be trapped by something like that!" Ivan practically yelled.

"Neither would the Professor!" Caspar agreed.

"That is correct! Our Professor and Isaac are not the type to fade away in such a manner!" Flayn chipped in.

"I know Isaac better than anyone else, except for probably his mother. We've been through so much together ever since we set out from Vale. There's no way he could be beaten by something like this!" Garet exclaimed in absolute irritation.

Alex grinned.

"I think you'll find this spell is quite potent. It utilises the most powerful of forbidden Fodlan dark magic in conjunction with the theory of alternate dimensions," Alex explained. "Which we now know is fact, thanks to what I discovered upon receiving the Golden Sun's power."

"Golden Sun?" Edelgard looked over to the Adepts, asking them directly.

"It's a long story. In short, it's a special object that consists of a very large amount of Psynergy. Alex has apparently absorbed some of its power, but thanks to The Wise One, he didn't get all of it. Isaac got the rest," Mia explained.

"I despise The Wise One. But he doesn't matter anymore. With the power I can gain from Solon's forbidden spell, nothing else will matter," Alex avowed.

"Do not forget. I would like to be in possession of some of that Golden Sun's energy. It would do well for my experiments," Solon reminded his ally.

"Of course. I wouldn't forget," Alex reassured him.

Solon turned his attention back to their enemies. "It must be torturous for them. Wandering in eternal darkness for all eternity...soon they shall perish."

"Okay, listen here," Jeralt pointed his lance at Alex and Solon, his voice filled with ferocity. "If you've just gone ahead and killed my son right before my eyes, I'll do the same to you. You'll regret ever messing with the Blade Breaker's family."

"Sir Eisner is right. This is not the end of our Professor's story. Neither is it the end for Isaac," Edelgard nodded.

"I will not forgive such insolence. If that is what you wish, I shall add you to the ranks of the dead!" Solon contended. "Alex! Let us engage in battle with our…"

Alex had disappeared, much to Solon's frustration.

"Ugh, no matter! I will personally eliminate you all!"

* * *

Darkness. Complete and total blackness. Not a single living lifeform resided in this realm of absolute nothingness. Light was a foreign concept. Only one thing was the truth - the dark. However, the sudden arrival of a pair of beings from an entirely different world proved to be the direct antithesis to everything this dark universe was.

Byleth Eisner and Isaac the Venus Adept were suddenly transported to this realm. It took them some time to open their eyes. At least, they thought they did. The only thing they could see was the never-ending darkness. They soon found each other. Mysteriously enough, neither of them were blanketed in the blackness. Each of them could see the other perfectly.

A conversation directed at finding their truth soon came to be.

"That Solon guy must have sent us here," Isaac realised. "Whatever that weird spell was, it's trapped us here. With no way out, it seems."

"...I refuse to believe this is the end," Byleth soon replied. "My students and your friends. They're still in the forest. We cannot die here, we musn't. For their sake."

"Right. But how do we even go about getting out of here?" Isaac proposed the eternal question.

Neither of them could think for long, because a worn out stone throne complete with a strangely long flight of stairs appeared out of nowhere, some ways behind the duo. A certain green haired being quickly emerged upon the throne. She did not seem pleased.

"You fool!" Sothis scolded. "What were you thinking, charging right into an enemy's trap? Are you just...a boulder…?" She'd begun to notice Isaac's presence.

"Uh, who are you?" Isaac returned Sothis' gaze with a confused one of his own.

"Not you too! Honestly, you two are quite simply, the most moronic individuals I've ever come into contact with! I would continue with my boulder metaphor but perhaps that would be too fitting for you, Adept," Sothis continued to scold. "I am Sothis, the Beginning. But that does not matter in the slightest as of now! This darkness is terrifying!"

"Wait, Sothis? The same one that Ivan talked about? So he was telling the truth," Isaac mumbled to himself.

"Are you dense, Adept? Do you not understand the gravity of the situation you have so foolishly found yourself in? Act seriously, you buffoon!" Sothis carried on.

"Sorry…" Isaac apologised, hanging his head in shame.

"I am sorry as well…" Byleth followed suit.

Sothis' frown only worsened.

"Apologising will not right this wrong!" the girl's composure loosened, as if her anger dissipated. "Do consider this. This realm of darkness is different to that of the world we came from. Consider it to have a similar relationship the one that Fodlan and the Adepts' world share. Perhaps that isn't so apt, actually. In either case, it would take the power of a god to leave this place. Our bodies will fade away as time passed. Are you two prepared to die?"

Both Byleth and Isaac shook their heads.

"That is what I thought. I also do not wish to die. Yet," Sothis' expression changed to one of sadness. "There is no other choice."

"What choice?" Byleth asked.

"Do you recall your father's diary? He said you were a child that never laughed nor cried. I think I am the one to blame," Sothis revealed. Isaac nodded along, having already received an explanation of Sothis' situation from Ivan. "Ever since your birth, I have been a part of you. I do not know how Rhea managed it, but she has allowed me to exist within you. It is through you that I have found my power again: the power of a goddess. The power of the Progenitor God."

"Progenitor God? I remember reading about that. Wait, you're saying…?!" Isaac soon came to the realisation. Sothis carried on.

"My name is Sothis. By now, you should know what that means, Byleth. You too, Adept. No, Isaac of Weyard. I am the one who watches over Fodlan as well as the creatures that live there. I am Sothis, she who died and then returned," the Progenitor God revealed.

Byleth and Isaac's mouths were agape. They couldn't believe it, yet somehow, Byleth knew it to be true. The latter of the two mortals had a slightly harder time believing.

"So a goddess has been living in Byleth's mind ever since he was born? That sounds...crazy," Isaac remarked. "And that goddess was you?"

"Indeed. I now possess every single memory that has ever been lost to me. I remember events that have occurred since time immemorial. Isaac, please thank Ivan for me. My talks with him have been most enlightening," Sothis answered sincerely. "Long ago, the people of Fodlan could cast a powerful type of magic without the need of tomes or any sort of magical circle. They could utilise the energy found within the world itself to use these immensely powerful spells."

Isaac was piecing it together.

"That energy was known as Psynergy," Sothis disclosed.

"Psynergy?! It exists in this world? No, it...it existed?" Isaac was immensely shocked.

"Yes, it once existed. I knew that if I left it alone, the energy would have wrought destruction upon the world. I needed to seal it somehow. I could not simply make it 'go away'. Psynergy was a natural part of the world - I could not erase it. Only one choice remained: I had to seal it," Sothis recounted more of her returned memories. "To do so, I took the essence of the energy and forced it to manifest within the blood of the most powerful individuals. It was once called the Emblem system, but they now refer to it as 'Crests'."

Byleth and Isaac's mouths returned to their earlier agape state. It all made sense to Isaac. Back with in their adventures, they'd learned that Weyard needed Psynergy to survive as a kind of food source. Without Psynergy, Weyard would die. However, with it, humans were assumed to misuse its awesome might. If this was true and Psynergy worked in Fodlan the same way it did in Weyard, then Sothis' point about it wreaking destruction on the world was certainly correct. But her response to that destruction was quite interesting.

"So in order to prevent people from misusing Psynergy, you sealed it away," Isaac repeated part of the goddess' explanation aloud. "But instead of actually sealing it away, you did something very clever. Something that nobody in Weyard thought of. You instead hid Psynergy away and turned it into something else. You changed it so that it no longer had the potential of being misused and yet you allowed it to remain in the world in its new form. Therefore, you satisfied both needs. No conflict between sealing and unsealing the power took place because the power was still there!"

Sothis grinned. "Thank you, Isaac. Ivan informed me you were the most knowledgeable about Psynergy amongst your group. I am glad to see his information was not false. What you just explained was exactly the thought process I went through so many years ago. Despite that, I failed to see that it would affect the world this negatively…"

"The existence of Crests has brought about many things throughout history. Recently, there was that struggle we had against Miklan as well as our encounter with Lonato," Byleth remembered. "Hanneman has explained it to me. There is no denying that Crests are very important to society. Maybe too important."

"Yes, precisely. I was not able to see that at the time. I am beginning to regret forcing Psynergy into the form of Crests," Sothis sighed. "But nothing can be done about that now. Not even I can rewind time that far."

"Wait, rewind time? Is that what happened back when Jeralt was nearly killed?" Isaac noted.

"Yes. That was a result of my Divine Pulse, an ability I was able to grant Byleth before he arrived at the monastery," Sothis confirmed Isaac's suspicions. "It seems for some reason you Adepts are not affected by it. Perhaps because the Divine Pulse is a power that comes directly from me. Since this form I take now is made up entirely of Psynergy, it is likely that your possession of Psynergy is what made you invulnerable to its effects."

"So this Divine Pulse thing is basically just another Psynergy spell? Wow, that makes sense," Isaac nodded to himself. "Wait a minute, it can't be Psynergy. If it was, I would be affected by it. I've been hit and therefore affected by Psynergy attacks before. Why wouldn't I be affected by yours?"

"Do remember that I am a divine being. That is likely the cause of your discrepancy," Sothis assumed. "As this body is made up of nothing but Psynergy, that would logically make Byleth an Adept of sorts."

"That would explain why I could see the spells Isaac and his friends were using," Byleth himself realised. "Do I have an element?"

"...I am unsure. Potentially, potentially not. As I am the goddess of this world, it is hard to tell. You may even possess all four elements. Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Byleth, you may very well have mastery of all of them," Sothis came to a conclusion.

"Maybe I could teach you," Isaac suggested to his friend.

"Maybe," Byleth repeated.

Sothis brought them back to the situation at hand.

"As I saying, it would take the power of a god to leave this place. Or, in this case, a goddess. And I must use the power a goddess wields. To do so, I will require a body of my own. I do not have such a thing. Thus, I must relinquish all that I have to you, Byleth," she explained. "The time has come for you and I to join as one. When that comes to pass, I shall disappear…"

"Disappear?!" Byleth felt a pang of a certain emotion - shock.

"When I say that, it does not mean that all of my being will be gone. My soul will join with yours. You and I will never be apart. But...I will no longer have the chance to speak with either of you. I shall miss it, even if I have only known you Adepts for a short amount of time. I will miss you regardless," Sothis elaborated. "So long have I been with you, Byleth. I have seen and heard many things throughout our time together. From time to time, I was even able to chastise you. I may not have acted like a goddess, but it was certainly fun."

Byleth truly couldn't believe it. Those wet puddles were starting to form in his eyes again.

"For all that you have done, thank you. I'm glad that it was you to whom my fate was bound," Sothis thanked her partner.

"Thank you for everything," Byleth simply said in response.

He wasn't sure if it was his usual stoicism that prevented him from saying anything further, or if it was his emotions clamming him up. Isaac didn't like what was going on.

"Hold on. I may have another solution," he brought up before anything else could happen. "Since your power is Psynergy, that should mean Psynergy itself is the key to getting out of here, right?"

"I...I suppose so. Do you possess a spell that will bring us back to the world of light?" Sothis wondered, genuinely hopeful.

"I should. It's called Retreat," Isaac revealed. "I've used it to warp myself and my friends out of caves so we could restock at the nearest town. Considering how it works and how we're in a unique situation, it might just be enough to get us back to Fodlan."

"Is that so? Well then, do not dally. Use this 'Retreat' spell of yours. Please," Sothis pleaded.

She disappeared back into Byleth's consciousness. Isaac walked over to Byleth.

"Do I need to do anything?" the professor asked.

"Just stand next to me. All I need to do after that is to cast the spell," Isaac answered.

Byleth nodded. He did precisely as he was told, ensuring to stand right next to his younger friend. The socially inept ex-mercenary even made sure to create a direct line of contact with the Venus Adept by holding onto his shoulder. This only slightly interrupted Isaac's usual casting process. He channeled the right kind of Venus Psynergy through his veins and extended his arms upwards.

"Retreat!" he yelled.

Out of nowhere, several multi-coloured balls of light emerged from above and engulfed the pair. They were both soon transformed into those spheres, disappearing from the world of darkness entirely. Their fate was unknown.

* * *

Within the Sealed Forest, both sides were standing there, watching the other. Those with Garreg Mach Monastery had their respective weapons ready, in case either Solon or Alex tried something. The two that slithered in the darkness were sure of themselves. Byleth and Isaac were both gone for eternity - they had all but won.

As Edelgard, the Adepts and the others were losing hope, a cluster of multi-coloured balls emerged from nowhere. They landed on the stone platform. In their wake came two bodies everyone recognised. Solon looked on in horror.

"Professor, it's you, right?" Edelgard greeted her ally. "I knew that you would come back to us. You too, Isaac. I am glad that you are safe as well."

"Damn it Isaac, you really kept us waiting there," Garet jokingly complained. "You used Retreat to get back here, didn't you? I knew that massive forehead guy's spell wouldn't be able to stop you!"

Much to the surprise of everyone, Alex began laughing. It quickly became very audible.

"What are you laughing at?! Don't you see that my forbidden spell has failed? No doubt as a result of the Fell Star's intervention!" Solon exclaimed, now afraid.

Alex kept laughing.

"Answer me!" Solon demanded.

Alex calmed himself somewhat. "I knew this was going to happen. Isaac has proved every hypothesis I had by simply using that Retreat Psynergy. I know everything now."

"You-you knew?! And you refused to inform me?! How dare you!"

Solon fired a dark magic attack at his now ex-partner. An attack fuelled by intense hatred. Alex merely teleported out of the way.

"You're on your own, old man," the Mercury Adept warped away, this time disappearing from the forest in its entirety.

"No...no!" Solon began to freak out.

Byleth and Isaac slowly made their way towards the so-called 'old man', their respective blades at the ready. The Sword of the Creator and the Gaia Blade. Two swords of immense power from two different worlds. Both were ready to be unleashed upon Solon. Isaac began by activating the Gaia Blade's Howl - Titan Blade - to completely blow Solon away. He was near to death at this point.

Nothing was left of him once Byleth unloaded countless slashes into the man's body. Total annihilation.

"In the end, Thales will carry out our mission…" was Solon's final words.

Victory was attained. The Black Eagles breathed a sigh of relief, for their battle was done. The fighting had been done. Life could go on as normal. Jeralt also felt relieved. Mostly now he knew the fate of his son. The Adepts were much the same for Isaac.

It wasn't over.

"A fitting death for such a horrendous man," Alex commented, having returned, appearing back on the stone platform beside Solon's many remains.

"You again? What do you want, Alex? Don't you see you're hideously outnumbered?" Mia asked him. "And outmatched."

"I would be foolish to fight you all at once," Alex admitted. He pulled out a book from behind his back. "That's why I'm not here to do that. This tome I carry contains instructions on how to use the Forbidden Spell of Zahras. Now that Isaac has confirmed for me the relation between Psynergy and the Progenitor God, I should be able to bend the forbidden spell to my own whims."

"What do you hope to achieve with that?" Edelgard questioned.

"And when did I confirm anything for you?" Isaac also questioned.

"One question at a time, please. First of all, Adrestian Princess, I'm not telling. Secondly, my greatest asset as of now, you were able to escape a realm that only the goddess could by using Psynergy. That proves to me that Psynergy is directly linked to the Progenitor God...Sothis," Alex explained. "Now, let's see…"

He quickly flipped through the pages, making it seem as if he wasn't sure what he was looking for, if anything at all. But he knew precisely what he was doing; he wanted to keep an illusion up. An illusion of making his enemies feel the utmost confusion. Before long, he began to channel the same dark energy that was used in the initial usage of the Forbidden Spell of Zahras. Instead of using it to catch anyone, he formed a specific black sphere with it in front of him.

"I think we've had our fun here, Adepts. Time for us to go back home to Weyard. Let's not bother the people of Fodlan any longer," Alex instructed, almost playfully. "Goodbye, children."

Alex stepped inside the sphere, which only stretched to his mid section. He waved as the dark ball's magical power caused him to slowly fade away until he disappeared entirely. Everyone else looked at each other with confusion.

"So what now?" Garet wondered. "Do we go after him?"

"Well, it's a way back home. I don't see why not," Ivan gave his opinion.

"Can we really trust Alex, though? It might be a warp to some kind of trap. I don't think we should do it," Mia refused.

"But what if it's really a way back? This might be another one of his roundabout plans or something...ugh, he's so unpredictable," Ivan suggested. "It even looks like the thing that brought us here, doesn't it?"

The Adepts took a gander at the sphere Alex created.

"I...I suppose it does. But that doesn't guarantee it'll bring us back to Weyard. That thing's design could be a deliberate design choice. Perhaps it's meant to make us think that way," Mia argued. "I don't know. I really don't know."

Isaac and Byleth convened with the three other Adepts, as did the students along with Jeralt.

"I think you should take it," Byleth insisted. "Seize this opportunity with your own hands."

"Seize it?" Mia pondered this.

"My kid's right. If you don't go ahead and take it, you might never get another chance to return home. A person's home should be very important to them. Don't you dare take it lightly," Jeralt threw his hat into the proverbial ring.

"I have agreement. Brigid is having importance to me, even though I am still inside Fodlan. I want to return to there someday. If I could, I would be doing that right now. But I cannot. I am still having things to do here in Fodlan. You do not. You can be leaving," Petra added.

"It'll be a shame to see you guys go...I didn't even get to show you a Fodlan opera!" Dorothea lamented.

"I didn't get to nap with you," Linhardt sighed.

"And I never got to properly explain to you four precisely what it is that makes a noble a noble," Ferdinand complained.

"Perhaps that one's for the best, Ferdie," Dorothea joked around. Ferdinand feigned shock.

"Next time you guys come here, I'll...well, I don't know what I'll do, but I'll do something!" Caspar stated.

"Y-yeah! I'll bake some cookies for you all! And I won't eat them before you get to!" Bernadetta declared.

"I will be sad to watch you four depart. But I realise this sadness will not last forever. I will always have the memories of meeting each of you and learning about your world. I shall cherish them forever," Flayn asserted with her usual friendly smile.

"You Adepts have been useful in guarding Lady Edelgard's life. It is a shame that protection will not remain," even Hubert chipped in.

Edelgard stepped forward.

"Isaac, Mia, Ivan, Garet. On behalf of the Black Eagle House, I thank the four of you for protecting each and every one of us. Your presence has been nothing but a boon for all of us. If you were to become permanent residents of this world, I would have given each of you the highest role in the Adrestian Empire's military forces. Again, I thank you," Edelgard bowed in respect. Her fellow students followed suit. Jeralt didn't and simply smiled.

"But we haven't even decided yet," Mia protested. "We might not want to spring Alex's trap."

"If it is one," Byleth refuted. "You can't be certain on something unknown. That's what makes it unknown. When faced with circumstances like those, you will need to take a risk."

"Exactly. I'd rather die trying to get home than be stuck in another world while our friends worry about us," Ivan nodded in agreement. "Think about Imil, Mia. Wouldn't you want to at least try to see everyone there again?"

Mia thought about this for a moment. She relented. "Fine. I would like to see my village again. Garet, Isaac, I guess you two want to try that sphere...thing?"

"You don't have to ask me. I don't need to think twice about seeing my family again," Garet answered.

Isaac nodded. As usual.

"Then that settles it. Byleth, Edelgard, Jeralt, the Black Eagles…" Mia began. "Goodbye. I'll never forget you all. Especially you, Flayn."

"I will miss you most of all, Mia," Flayn responded.

"Same here. I expect another shield sliding session when I get back, Caspar!" Garet smiled.

"You got it!" Caspar replied.

Ivan's turn. "Thanks for your hospitality, everyone. I…" He stopped himself before he could say the rest out aloud. The Mercury Adept switched to Mind Read. "_I hope everything works out okay for you, Bernadetta_."

Bernie seemed to visibly freak out upon hearing that in her mind, but she nodded. That seemed to be an 'okay' to Ivan, so he was content. He still had someone else to contact.

"_Goodbye, Sothis_," Ivan used Mind Read on Byleth.

"_May your days be well, Ivan. I hope to see you and your friends again one day_," Sothis answered. "_Thank Isaac for me, please. He saved me_."

Ivan nodded internally, then cut the mental call. Isaac was up next.

"I...thanks, guys," he merely said. "Petra, keep training. You'll become very strong one day."

"My spirit is full of training!" the Brigid girl responded with pride.

The Venus Adept turned to Byleth. "And thank you, Byleth. Thanks for letting me into your class. Without you, I don't know where I'd be."

"You're welcome, Isaac. I hope we meet again," the professor hoped.

"Me too."

With their goodbyes outed, the four Adepts made their way over to Alex's leftover sphere. They were unsure as to where it led. Could it truly be a means of getting back home, to Weyard? Or was it really a trap from Alex? There was no way they could know. But as the expectant, tearful eyes of Fodlan's natives gazed at them, their resolve strengthened. One by one, the Adepts stepped into the dark portal.

And then they disappeared. Fodlan was left to follow its own path. Its correct path, as dictated by fate. The very concept Sothis subscribed to. Byleth left the area especially happy. His father was alive and Sothis was still around. This was made possible by the Adepts, no, his friends. His friends that are now gone.

Gone far away.

* * *

_**Author Notes: **_**And that's the end of Psynergy Between the Three Houses! What happened to Isaac and his party? Where did Alex go? What path will Fodlan be led down? I dunno. What I do know for sure is that this is the final chapter for the fic, unless you folks wanna see more. I do have some ideas for a continuation, but I won't do 'em if nobody's gonna read it.**

**With that being said, it seems like you guys have really enjoyed this story! Thank you all so much for supporting it. Really, I can't thank you enough. I'll be taking a break from fic writing for a while (mainly due to Christmas and stuff). Not sure what I'll return with. Might be another Three Houses themed one, might be a Golden Sun story, I don't know exactly. We'll all find out eventually.**

**Anyway, hope you folks enjoyed your time reading this fan-fic. Have a good day!**

**P.S: I wonder if anyone will catch the Avatar: The Last Airbender and Smash Ultimate references I threw into this chapter...**


	16. Bonus - Join Smash Brothers Already!

Readying a final stab, Jeralt rammed his lance through Kronya's throat. At least, he tried to. A stay ball of dark magic came flying at him, causing him to jump back to dodge. Kronya used this time to leap back and equip her dagger. The exact same dagger she used to try and kill Jeralt earlier.

"Solon!" she almost seemed pleased to see her comrade. "Don't just stand there! Help!"

"Yes...you certainly do need my help," Solon grinned in a very menacing way.

He slowly walked over to Kronya, his palm out. What happened next surprised and disgusted everyone that saw it. Solon reached through Kronya's lightly armoured body, causing her a great deal of pain. This somehow resulted in the four pillars surrounding the stone platform they were on to become enveloped in darkness. Some of the students retreated off the platform upon seeing this. Jeralt, Byleth and Isaac stood their ground.

While this was happening, Solon continued to reach through Kronya's body. The darkness intensified. Aware of the obvious danger, Isaac immediately used his Lift Psynergy to launch Jeralt away from the platform, leaving only himself and Byleth. Although he intended to do the same to Byleth as well as himself, some dark tendrils lashed out and grabbed onto his limbs, restricting his movements. Same with Byleth.

"Solon…! Stop this!" Kronya pleaded, her life ebbing away.

Her 'comrade' ignored this plea for help. Solon's hand found its target. It suddenly pulled back, revealing Kronya's heart in its grasp. The girl in question dropped to the floor and asked for help, but it was too late. She was dead.

"It is time to unleash the Forbidden Spell of Zahras!" Solon declared.

A massive torrent of darkness enveloped Byleth and Isaac. After all the darkness dissipated, nothing was left. Byleth and Isaac were gone. Kronya's lifeless body and Solon's very much lifeful one remained.

* * *

Darkness. Complete and total blackness. Not a single living lifeform resided in this realm of absolute nothingness. Light was a foreign concept. Only one thing was the truth - the dark. However, the sudden arrival of a pair of beings from an entirely different world proved to be the direct antithesis to everything this dark universe was.

Byleth Eisner and Isaac the Venus Adept were suddenly transported to this realm. It took them some time to open their eyes. At least, they thought they did. The only thing they could see was the never-ending darkness. They soon found each other. Mysteriously enough, neither of them were blanketed in the blackness. Each of them could see the other perfectly.

A conversation directed at finding their truth soon came to be.

"That Solon guy must have sent us here," Isaac realised. "Whatever that weird spell was, it's trapped us here. With no way out, it seems."

"...I refuse to believe this is the end," Byleth soon replied. "My students and your friends. They're still in the forest. We cannot die here, we musn't. For their sake."

"Right. But how do we even go about getting out of here?" Isaac proposed the eternal question.

Neither of them could think for long, because a worn out stone throne complete with a strangely long flight of stairs appeared out of nowhere, some ways behind the duo. A certain green haired being quickly emerged upon the throne. She did not seem pleased.

"You fool!" Sothis scolded. "What were you thinking, charging right into an enemy's trap? Are you just...a boulder…?" She'd begun to notice Isaac's presence.

"Uh, who are you?" Isaac returned Sothis' gaze with a confused one of his own.

"Not you too! Honestly, you two are quite simply, the most moronic individuals I've ever come into contact with! I would continue with my boulder metaphor but perhaps that would be too fitting for you, Adept," Sothis continued to scold. "In either case, it would take the power of a god to leave this place. Our bodies will fade away as time passes. Are you two prepared to die?"

Both Byleth and Isaac shook their heads.

"That is what I thought. I also do not wish to die. Yet," Sothis' expression changed to one of sadness. "There is no other choice."

"What choice?" Byleth asked.

"You must join Smash," Sothis revealed, staring solely at the fifth character of the Fighters Pass.

Isaac leered. "What?!"

"Smash Brothers! Honestly Adept, you are a dolt. Shouldn't you know what Smash Brothers is already? You've participated in it before!" Sothis stated.

"But not as a fighter! Why does Byleth get to be in before me? I've been waiting longer!" Isaac complained.

"How successful have you been, may I ask? How many people have been touched by your story and your world?" Sothis asked with a smug expression.

"..." was the Venus Adept's response.

"I thought so. I will say, those that clamor for your inclusion as a fighter are certainly admirable. Perhaps later," Sothis responded. She pulled a certain letter out of nowhere and turned her attention back to the professor. "Join Smash Brothers already, Byleth! What in the world are you waiting for?"

The Smash Brothers Invitation Letter shined with a divine glow. It ruptured the darkness, transforming it into an infinite light. Back out in the Sealed Forest, a white cross shape formed within the air. Everyone stared at it with their immensely surprised gazes. Byleth flew out of the shape's midpoint and posed while flying.

**Byleth Joins Smash House!**

Meanwhile, Isaac also appeared from the shape's midpoint, but his fate was to slam facedown onto the stone platform as opposed to Byleth's randomly gained ability of flight. The Adept refused to move from his position.

"Perhaps I'll get my chance...another day…" he meekly said.

And then folks on the internet collectively crapped their pants. Some were mad, others cried, but a few remained optimistic. Nonetheless, a new challenger approached.

* * *

_**Author Notes: **_**I just had to do this. Maybe someday I can re-enact this fanfic with Isaac's potential inclusion as a fighter in Smash...I can only hope.**

**Also, I can confirm that this story will be getting an actual continuation at some point. I'll wanna finish my new DDLC x Yugioh fanfic first, which won't take too long. And then there's that other idea I had...well, a continuation to this will happen eventually.**

**See y'all next time.**


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